First, Destroy's the Cake, then Steal's My heart
by RosarioSecrets
Summary: Lucy was left with a big job in commemoration for Erza's party! During this week, she started to have a small problem with Natsu, first he destroyed her cake, but then he also takes her heart. Dive into this short, cute and silly nalu story. (Featuring a bit of jerza as well)
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: Hello everyone! Today I'm bringing you a special little story. It'll be all fluffy, cute and silly. (At Least in my opinion X3) It'll be few chapters long...a very short story but, more stories will come in the future. Hope you guys like this one.**

 **It'll be updated approx. once a week :3**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 _..Chapter 1.._

 _It wasn't just an ordinary day in Fairy Tail. Today was the day Erza celebrated her 500th successful mission after her long years of hard work._

 ***Exactly One Week Earlier*...**

Erza planned on celebrating her special day with Jellal when she came back from her week long mission. Everything was planned to be perfect, she most especially couldn't wait to sink herself in piles of strawberry cake.

"I'll see you when you get back, Erza" Jellal smiled, while holding her dearly. He tilted her head towards him and her face went crimson.

"Not here! This is a public place. I plan to keep my personal life to myself, only" Erza grumbled while slowly pulling herself away. Jellal chuckled and let her go. They walked towards the front of the guild hall. Noisy as ever, Everyone wished Erza off to another successful mission.

"Have my cakes ready on the table when i get back" She smiled brightly at Jellal and he nodded.

"I promise, now go. You'll be late" he tried very hard not to laugh, watching his girlfriend suddenly rushing out of the door. The doors closed, leaving a loud clunk and the guild turned to the blue-haired male.

Lucy smiles and nudges him, "You two finally seem to be making process"

He blinked a few times and then smiled back while looking down to the blonde celestial mage, "We are. speaking of which, How are you and Natsu doing?" raising an eyebrow at her. He knew something was going on between them but never really asked about it. Until now.

"Wh-What do you mean? Natsu is fine as far as I'm concerned. He left back to his place to get happy" Lucy stumbled with her words and turned away. Jellal shook his head with concern, ' _This girl, really. There is no way she can't possibly not realize it by now._."

The guild master was sitting on the bar counter, drinking his usual mug of ale when Lucy sat by him on a stool. Placing his mug down, he smiles down to the girl, "What seems to be bothering you, Lucy?"

The girl's brows furrowed, thinking carefully with her words, "Nothing important except..." She flips her stool facing him, "Who's going to be buying all the cakes for Erza?" The guild fell silent.

Makarov seemed to be stunned quiet too. Clearing his throat, he spoke, almost flustered, "Well, you see. We kind of already planned on baking them all. If we were to actually buy Erza her usual..."

Jellal came over smiling, "Nobody can afford her usual without buying out an entire bakery's crew" the blue-haired mage continued after the guild master. Lucy's eyes nearly fell out.

"Then how'd you plan on setting this up? We have only a week!" Lucy's voice went high when the Guild's door's slammed open.

"We're back!" Natsu and Happy yelled together. Lucy snapped her head around and waved towards them.

"Welcome back!" She smiled brightly at them. Jellal took notice of her sudden change in attitude. Chuckling to himself he turns back to the guild master.

"You think we'll be able to bake enough during the week?" Jellal spoke quietly.

Makarov mumbled while thinking carefully. "Mira can only do so much by herself, 'lad"

Lucy turned around, overhearing the two talking while the pink-haired dragonslayer took his usual seat beside her.

"What's going on?" he chimed in. Lucy glanced at him quickly.

"We're setting up Erza's 500th Quest party. We have one week to set up cakes, balloons and all" she smiled and then turned to the guild master, "I can help Mira with the cakes! I love cooking in all honesty"

The old man looked like half the worlds burdens was lifted, "That'll be splendid dear. I'll let Mira know immediately" Hopping off the counter, he went off to find the white-haired girl. Natsu was already at the job board when Lucy turned around.

"Find anything interesting?" Lucy called over to him.

Natsu held a hand to his chin, studying the board. Closing his eyes and tilted his head, lost in thought. The blonde mage walked over to him.

"Natsu, did you hear me?" she spoke a bit louder.

He suddenly snapped his eyes open and took a glance at her, "Wondering if I'll finish this mission in time" He rips down a paper from the top of the board and hands it to her. Smacking his fists together, grinning, "If we rush out now, We'll get back before the week is over. You still need rent for this month right? So this should be enough to cover it"

Happy flew over them, landing on his pink hair. "Aye! and then we can buy more fish afterwards!"

Lucy smiled and then suddenly came to a realization, "Oh, dang it! I just offered to help with the cake baking. I won't be able to go with you guys.." Lucy bit her bottom lip while thinking nervously, "We'll be lucky to finish within this week..." She turns her head over to look at the guild. Eyes darting the place, counting the tables. "I honestly wish i knew how to bake a bunch at once..."

A light bulb lit inside Natsu's head. "How about i help you guys get it done quicker" he flicks his wrist and a small flame pops out.

Lucy smacked the side of her head, "If only cake baking is that simple. If you do it, the whole kitchen will get cooked with it...* _sigh_ *...Thanks for the offer Natsu but, I really need to head home now, good luck on your mission!" She waves him off as she ran out of the guild.

Happy looked down towards his dragonslayer, "So, Lucy won't be coming with us then?"

Natsu remained quiet as he watched Lucy leaving the guild in a hurry. He looked at the mission paper in his hands before placing it back onto the board, "...Seems so, Happy" He looked over to the counter and sighed. Wendy and Charle came into the guild and immediately Happy turned to look.

"Natsu, I'm going to say hi to Charle! Let me know when you're leaving on a mission!" he flew before Natsu can answer.

Lost in his thoughts, he honestly wanted to help Lucy. Whether or not she was on the mission isn't what bothered him. He just wanted her around, it felt weird otherwise. Getting up slowly, he called over to Happy, "I'll hold off the mission for now, Happy. I'll see you later tonight, alright?"

"Aye! See you later, Natsu" Happy didn't even glance, entirely focused on the white cat.

It was about thirty minutes when Natsu finally arrived at Lucy's place. Looking up, he noticed her window was open as always. Jumping up quickly to it, he threw himself in carefully and smelled something cooking in the kitchen. Walking over to it without making a sound, He saw Lucy moving around swiftly with a bowl and a book in her hand. Natsu wasn't even trying to be sneaky either. Just stood there watching her for a moment.

"What're you cooking, Lucy?" He said while eyeing the fruit and sugary sweets on the counter-top.

Lucy jumped, nearly screamed and dropped the bowl, spilling all of the batter onto the floor as well as onto herself, "NATSU! DON'T SCARE ME LIKE THAT! UGH" she looked at her apron and huffed, "Now i have a mess to clean!" Pulling it off, she throws a towel at him, "Help me clean this up" she quickly walked out of the kitchen and placing her book to the side on her way. Scratching his head, Natsu sighed and started to quickly clean up the mess. Few minutes later Lucy came back into the kitchen and saw him sitting in the chair, reading the cookbook she held just before.

Lucy folded her arms when he finally glanced up towards her, "Sorry about before.." his brows knit and placed down the book. "Why are these recipes so complicated. It's just cake"

Lucy nearly flipped but bit her tongue and spoke, very carefully, "Just...cake? * _sigh*..._ Natsu, There are dozens...maybe hundreds of different kinds of cakes out there. People have different tastes and ideas for sweet things, so to satisfy themselves, They make different recipes." She walks over and picks up the book from him. "Besides, I'm trying to figure out how to make the perfect strawberry cake. Erza is very particular about it so we have to get this right. I already spoke to Mira earlier so, she too, is making a few batches to test" Natsu shrugged, arms stretching while walking over to the counter full of food.

She eyed him carefully, "Natsu, You going to help or you just going to watch. Cause either way, i can't be distracted right now"

He mumbled something quickly and then walked away. "I'll catch you later, Lucy"

Shaking her head she continued her work. "Really, what goes on in that head of his?"

* * *

Natsu started going around town, towards all the bakeries he can find. Only one place seemed to know what he was talking about, "You said Erza orders HOW MANY?"

Natsu was completely slack-jawed when the baker laughs nervously. "About 150 weekly, It's her usual order"

The pink-haired dragonslayer shook his head, "Look We need the recipe to bake Erza a cake. Can you give it to me quickly? The guild is holding a special party for her..."

The baker frowned, "it's against company policy to release such information. I really can't.."

Natsu lit a hand on fire, eyes gleaming with mischief, "So, i can't convince you?"

Moments later, Natsu walked out laughing with a piece of paper in his hands. "Time to head back to Lucy's!" He said excitedly. When he looked up towards the sky realizing time flew, he knew around this time Lucy would be sleeping. Running back quickly, he saw no lights on in the building. After he jumped up towards the window, he looked through to see the sleeping blonde completely uncovered in her bed. Hair entirely tangled with her face. Natsu slid in very quietly and moved around.

He placed the paper on her desk when he heard sudden teeth-chattering. ' _She's probably cold again_ ' Natsu moved over to Lucy and watched her sleeping face. His eyes narrowed and somehow without realizing, his hand was already moving over towards her face, moving the thin strands of blonde hair away. Lucy twitched from his touch and he immediately paled, yanking his hand back. He stood entirely still. Knowing it was safe to move after a few moments, he covered her up with her blankets and left out the window swiftly and quietly. He was in such a hurry, Natsu didn't even realize he left his scarf behind, hanging from the edge of her bed.

* * *

Lucy stretched up towards the ceiling after the alarm went off. Blinking a few times, she turned to get out of bed when her foot caught onto something. She pulled the offending cloth only to realize it was Natsu's scarf. Her eyes softened and held it out in front of her. ' _That's unusual for him to leave this behind_ ' Lucy took a few moments to look at it before folding it neatly and placing it on her desk. Almost missing the small piece of paper, she picked it up to move it when something made her read it. She held a hand to her mouth and her eyes popped, "Did Natsu go out of his way for this?" she spoke quietly. Her eyes darted to the scarf and smiled brightly, "He's really something" Suddenly feeling brighter and lighter on her feet, she quickly got dressed and started working on the new cake recipe.

 **Meanwhile back at Natsu's place...**

"Happy! have you seen my scarf? AH! i can't believe i lost it again!" the dragonslayer started flipping through his house and outside, in search of his prized belonging. Happy flew around with a fish in his mouth just watching.

Between mouthfuls of fish, he spoke quickly, "I don't see it Natsu! Did you check the guild yet?"

Natsu groaned, holding both hands onto his head, "Going to have to.." He stopped in his tracks and started to think for a moment, ' _Maybe..._ ' He turned his head towards the blue cat, " I'm going to go check Lucy's place before the guild. I'll see you there!"

"Aye! Hurry up Natsu, we have a mission to complete later!" Happy continued to chew his food.

* * *

Lucy almost finished her cake, throwing last minute touches to it when she suddenly heard a thump in the other room. Placing the last few strawberries down, she glanced over to see Natsu putting on his scarf. She smiled and waved over to him, "'Morning! Quick come here!" She went over to him and grabbed his wrist, pulling him over without waiting for an answer. He sighed but still relieved he found his scarf. It only took a few seconds after though to smell the house full of sugary sweet baking. Natsu's mouth was watering from the smell until his eyes fell onto the cake that was neatly fixed on the table. However, before he can even think about eating it, Lucy held a spatula out towards him, "i need you to finish putting the strawberries onto the cake then put it in the box. Got it? _Don't Even Think About Ruining It_." He paled when her face got extremely scary looking, Almost as scary as Erza. Lucy walked out of the kitchen and the dragonslayer's stomach growled loudly. Sighing he placed the berries onto the cake and then into the box carefully until suddenly behind him, Happy flew onto his head. Natsu accidentally shifted his hands a bit too much placing the cake down and it crumbled the side of the cake into a mess. Panicking, he looked around the kitchen for something to fix it.

"Natsu, what're you doing?" Happy chimed, watching Natsu move around the kitchen quickly.  
"Not now, Lucy is going to kill me!" he said nervously. He opened the fridge to see a bowl of cream. After grabbing it, Natsu moved back over to the cake and saw Happy eating from the side mess.

"HAPPY NO!" but before he can stop him, Lucy came walking in. His world stopped then and there.


	2. Chapter 2

_..Chapter 2.._

The words he yelled hung in the air, while frozen in his steps for the moment. Natsu watched as the blonde's eyes darted towards him and the blue cat. The dragonslayer took a step closer towards the cake only to see her eyes dart to him again. He gulped, sweat dripped down his face.

"Lucy, i can explain..." he said quickly, moving the bowl of cream over.

The celestial mage started laughing hysterically, "I knew it! I knew this would happen!"

Happy continued chewing the cake when Natsu paled, "What...?"

Lucy walked over towards the cabinet and pulled out a large cake box, "I put this away just in case something would happen. Honestly, i didn't expect happy to be the one to ruin that. Why don't you try some instead?" she points to the messed up cake.

"Wait, so you're not mad?" he breathed, eyeing her expression carefully.

Lucy smiled and giggled, "Nope! Tell me what you think of the cake, that's what i needed you for" She leaned onto the counter, legs crossed.

Natsu didn't hesitate another moment and dug into the cake happily. He was starving. Skipping out on breakfast because he was panicking over his missing scarf. The cake disappeared after only five minutes.

"Well?" the blonde raised an eyebrow towards them.

"Almost as good as fish!" Happy said, flying around in the air.

Natsu stretched, "What was that?"

Lucy huffed, "The cake! Was it close to Erza's usual?"

Natsu closed his eyes thinking, "Not sure, might have to try another to be sure" showing her a toothy grin. Lucy sighed and grabbed her extra cake.

"Not a chance, I'll just ask Jellal when i get back to the guild"

Happy landed on top of the dragonslayer's head, "Natsu, we have to get started on that mission. Train is leaving in an hour!"

Natsu paled, "Who said anything about a train..."

Lucy placed a hand onto her hips, "So, you guys leaving on a mission?" Natsu got up and walked out of the kitchen, waving at her.

"Yeah, I'll catch you later, Luce. Happy, Let's go!" he jumped out of the window.

"Aye sir!" Happy waved towards the celestial mage and followed Natsu out the window.

Lucy crossed her arms and huffed loudly, "USE THE DOOR NEXT TIME!"

* * *

Lucy arrived at the guild, the cake tightly guarded in her arms. The place was as lively as ever. She noticed people in the back were working on decorations. Freed was watching over the festivities, making sure not a thing was out of place. Reedus was focused heavily on the designs.

"Lucy!" Mirajane called over. The blonde snapped her gaze towards her. Jellal was standing nearby her too and the counter-top was filled with cakes. Lucy smiled and walked over to them quickly.

"Morning" the blue-haired mage nodded towards Lucy.

"Hey guys!" she beamed. Lucy placed the cake down and opened the box. "I think i made the perfect cake!"

Mira smiled, "Is that so?"

Jellal chuckled, "We shall see then"

Moments passed as they both tried Lucy's cake. Their eyes widened, "This is..." they said in unison.

Lucy smiled brightly, "So what do you think?"

Mira closed the cake box, "But how did you do it?"

Lucy held a finger to her lips and winked, "That's a secret"

Jellal chuckled, getting both girls attention, "I might have a clue"

Lucy blinked a few times, stuttering, "R-Really?"

Jellal winked at her, "Don't worry. However, the real challenge now is baking the 500 cakes"

Lucy paled, "How are we going to get that done within the next 6 days though?"

Mira pulled up an apron, "Instead of worrying about it, Let's get started" Jellal leaned in towards Lucy when the white-haired girl walked away.

"Natsu helped you, didn't he?" he whispered. Lucy's face went crimson.

"M-maybe" stuttering again.

Jellal sighed and stood up, "That guy would do anything for you it seems" his smile was warm, thinking about how far he'd go for Erza, just to make her happy.

Lucy sighed, eyes fell to the floor, "I honestly don't know what goes on in that small head of his. For now, we got cakes to bake, not talk about silly things like that" she pointed towards Jellal, "Natsu is out on a mission so we don't have time to waste." Knowing the dragonslayer is going to be away, it means quiet for her as well. She loved his company but, sometimes he gets carried away. Causing more trouble than intended and more messes to clean. Cringing, she headed towards the back towards Mira.

Jellal shook his head, concerned about the blonde, ' _Sooner or later, one of them is going to realize their feelings for another. Just how long is it going to take?_ ' He held a hand to his chin, ' _Maybe i should go check on Natsu. If he left this morning on that job request, he shouldn't be too far. Besides, someone is going to have to reprimand him for that recipe stealing_ ' chuckling to himself, he left the guild.

* * *

Natsu was curled tightly into a ball, feeling beyond miserable from the motion sickness. Happy was already sleeping in the chair across from them and was dreaming about fish. The train was an hour away from their stop, leaving Natsu feeling worse from every passing second. However, the train whistled loudly and an announcement was made, " **Attention Passengers** , _We're sorry to announce the train must make a stop at the next Station in Hargeon. There is an unexpected track maintenance ahead. We again apologize for the inconvenience. Next train will depart tomorrow at noon, we appreciate your understanding_ "

When the train stopped, Natsu bolted out of his chair immediately. Happy woke up shortly after and slowly flew over towards the now ecstatic dragonslayer who was kissing the ground repeatedly, "Oh how i missed this solid ground! Never letting Happy talk me into riding that thing again!" he said loudly.

Happy rolled his eyes, "Natsu, that means we have to walk now!"

The dragonslayer hopped onto his feet, throwing his flaming fists into the air, "Who cares! No more trains!" Laughing to himself, he moved his hands towards the back of his head, suddenly realizing where they were. His eyes darted around, "OI! Happy, You remember this place?" He pointed towards the small restaurant nearby.

"Aye! We got free food from Lucy here!" he said while flying over Natsu.

Natsu grinned up at him, "Why don't we stop there to eat before we head out again?"

"Extra fish this time?" Happy said as he landed onto Natsu's shoulder.

"Of course, Let's go!" he walked quickly towards the restaurant. Happy swung his tail excitedly for the incoming meal.

The duo was already eating contently when someone came up behind them. The dragonslayer turned up his gaze only to see the blue-haired mage making his way over to the chair across from them.

"What're you doing here? Natsu spoke with a mouthful of food.

Jellal shook his head, "My train stopped just awhile ago. Was on my way looking for you actually"

Happy just watched the two in silence. The dragonslayer swallowed his food, "Did something happen?" he said curiously.

"Don't worry, nothing happened. Just something i needed to talk to you about actually. For example, That cake recipe"

Natsu paled and waved his hand at him, "Don't know what you're talking about" he laughed nervously. The blue-haired mage sighed, leaning his arm on the table.

"You sure about that?" His tone got serious, eyes narrowing to the pink-haired boy.

Natsu gulped, "Ah, the cake recipe. Don't worry, the guy was totally okay with it!"

Jellal frowned, "No he wasn't Natsu. That's considered lawbreaking you know. If you weren't a part of Fairy Tail, saving the town countless times, It could've been a lot more serious. You can't keep doing that without consequences later on. Any other town would've reported you."

The dragonslayer sighed, "I already told the old man I'd make up for it" he said while shrugging, then went back to eating.

"That's not the point, Natsu" Jellal said sternly.

Happy spoke, "Is that all you came here for?" His big eyes stared at him. The guy shook his head, "No, just a part of it".

Jellal folded his hands under his chin when he smiled at the dragonslayer, "So how are you and Lucy doing?"

Natsu flickered his gaze towards him again and shrugged, "We're fine. Why?"

The blue-haired man blinked a few times, "Just fine? Nothing at all happened?"

The dragonslayer sighed, "What are you trying to get at?" he said with confusion. He folded his arms after he finished eating.

"Lucy wasn't mad at you about the recipe? Did she say thank you in any way?" Jellal was now confused as well. Just how do these two communicate behind closed doors.

Natsu thought for a moment, thinking, "No. But she did let me try the cake though! It was great!" he said brightly.

"Aye! Lucy made a good cake" Happy chimed in.

Jellal's face pinched. Thinking of how to pry further without being obvious, "Did you at least thank her for the cake?"

The dragonslayer looked down to Happy, "I don't remember. I think i did, Did i Happy?" The blue cat looked at him and shook his head.

Natsu frowned, "i guess I'll tell her later. Anyway, we have to get going! See you later!" the dragonslayer hopped out of his chair, paid for the food and left.

Happy got up quickly when Jellal called out to him, "Happy, Come here a 'sec" The blue cat flew next to him, waiting, "You're around them a lot aren't you. Does anything happen between them?" Happy blinked a few times as the words hung there for a moment. A light-bulb clicked in the cat's head, realizing what Jellal was asking for.

"Natsu and Lucy?" the cat said snickering. Jellal nodded, "They Liiiike each other. Just last night, he came home late from Lucy's place!" the cat whined. "He forgot about me! I was waiting in the guild all day for him and i had to go home alone!"

Jellal smiled, "What happened, Happy? Did Natsu tell you?"

Happy shook his head, "No! That's the worst part. All Natsu said was, he gave Lucy a recipe and headed back home. Then i woke up to see him flipping the house upside to look for his scarf!"

Jellal laughed, "Well, I'll see you later"

"Aye! We'll be back in Magnolia soon as we capture those bandits" the blue cat flew off to catch up to his partner.

Jellal thought as he watched the cat leave, ' _I wonder what could've happened between them. I'm sure I'll find out soon enough_ '. The blue-haired mage left the place to continue his mission he left for.

* * *

 **Back in Fairy Tail...**

Lucy and Mira filled the kitchen with flour, eggs, strawberries, bowls, everything you can think of for cake baking. Mira set up the ovens while Lucy started to beat some batter into the bowls.

"How many cakes do you think we'll get done today?" Lucy said while huffing. Putting all her might into beating the batter. Mira hummed happily as she cracked the eggs into her own bowl.

"At least 20. Tomorrow, if we start early, we can possibly hit 100" The woman continued to hum when Lucy coughed. The air filled with flour being poured. It even started to coat their clothes.

"I can't believe we're doing this. I just hope we finish in time" the blonde whined. Lucy placed down the down bowl and washed her hands. Pulling up a key, she smiled. "I just realized we can call for reinforcements. Open, Gate of the Maiden, Virgo!" A light shined and the pink-haired maid emerged.

"Good Afternoon, Princess. Is it punishment time?" the maid said towards Lucy. The blonde shook her head, "Nope! Instead, i need your help gathering the ingredients to form the batter" Lucy knew Virgo was good with home economics, so using that advantage, the work should get done faster.

"Of course, princess" All the women started working in unison. Despite trying to be careful, the kitchen still exploded with a mess. Virgo continued to pour ingredients together while Lucy washed the bowls, one after another.

Evening came, Virgo left and the two remaining women were exhausted. They only just started and it felt like they baked for an army. Technically, it could've been. The sad realization came when they were only cooking for one person. The majority of it anyway.

"I need a shower..." Lucy whined while fanning herself. Mira laughed before she got up. She handed Lucy a small cup of water and the blonde gulped it immediately.

"Get some rest, Lucy. We have an early start tomorrow" Mira said gently. Lucy smiled up at her and nodded.

"Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow Mira!" the blonde waved and headed back towards her apartment.

Realizing now, she has the place to herself. She got so use to having Natsu around, she almost forgot what privacy was like. Taking advantage of this opportunity, she started up the bath, tying her hair up into a bun and allowed herself to soak in the hot tub. "This is amazing" she said while stretching upwards. The bathroom was filled with steam and Lucy got _too_ relaxed. The heat started to raise towards her head and strange thoughts started to linger, ' _I wonder how Natsu is doing. It's rare for him to go on missions lately without me_ ' her brows furrowed. Sinking further into the tub, ' _what am i thinking? He's done tons of missions way before i came along..._ ' Lucy sighed loudly, ' _Why'd he have to look so sad when i had to turn him down though..._ '

Suddenly she remembered what Jellal asked her, ' _How are You and Natsu doing?_ ' Lucy's cheeks went crimson, "Just what exactly is he implying?" she grumbled to herself. "Just because i happened to be around him a lot..." she continued to talk to herself loudly until Natsu's bright smile lingered in her head. She felt the corner of her lips turning upwards, eyes softening. ' _Maybe i should bake him a cake when he gets back'_ she held a hand to her chin, "A cake specifically made for him, maybe then he'll realize it won't be _just_ a cake" Lucy smacked her hands together, "That's it!" She said excitedly while standing up suddenly. Water splashed around the tub, "Before he gets back, I'll bake him a cake!" Draining the water from the tub, Lucy grabbed a towel and dried her hair. Soon as she left the bathroom, she started sitting down at her desk, writing all the possible cake ideas for Natsu. ' _What does he like? Can't do spicy cakes, it'll be too weird..._ " her face scrunched and she started to chew the back tip of the pen. "Cinnamon is a type of spice...What would go with it..." After an hour passed Lucy turned off the light and curled into her bed. ' _I'll figure it out after a good nights sleep'_ The thoughts of Natsu lingered in her head, leaving her smiling before finally succumbing to sleep.

* * *

 **A/N:** _Well here's to another long week before the next chapter. I hope you guys like where this is going! It's so hard to build the suspense for it when you don't want to pour everything in it at once. I know i probably could've done a one-shot but i felt like something would've been missing. Anyway, thanks for the support, I'm glad i see some people liking it already. See you here next week!  
_


	3. Chapter 3

_..Chapter 3.._

The forest floor remained quiet as the dragonslayer and exceed venture behind the wagon. Natsu crouched behind the bushes and Happy remained flying - just high enough to get a view above. The wagon suddenly stops at a forked road leaving them vulnerable.

"Sir, why did we stop?" the man in the carriage walked out in a huff and slammed his hand onto the doorside.

"I think we're being followed" an old scruffy man turned his head, eyeing the shady forest. Arching a brow carefully as he walks out, holding a rifle close to himself.

"We don't have time to worry about some poor sap, we have to get there before the boss gets mad at us again!" the shorter middle-aged man sighs and scratches his scruffy beard.

The old man held a finger to his dry lips and moves away from the wagon and into the forest. No sound was made for five minutes, making the other guy grow impatient, "What's taking you so long? Dang it, if i want anything done, i have to do it myself" he climbs back onto the wagon only to see a blue cat hovering in front - grinning.

"Natsu! You forgot one!" the small exceed giggled. The man held a knife out suddenly towards the cat. However, before he can move another muscle, a flaming fist was held to his face. The man gulps heavily and turns his eye to the right. A pink-haired dragonslayer was scowling at him.

"Don't even think about hurting my friend" he growled. The middle-aged man huffed and started chuckling to himself.

"Do you really think i was alone?" he suddenly whistles loudly, piercing Natsu's ears. The boy yelps and holds his head while the cat suddenly has his eyes widen in fear.

"Natsu! Look out!" the cat yelps.

A group of dark mages emerge from the forest floor, holding their staves towards the dragonslayer and exceed. Natsu shook his head slowly, still feeling slightly dazed. The sound dimmed down in his head as he glances over to the group of dark robed figures.

"That was a nasty thing to do" he sighed heavily and stretches his arm out forward as fire started to flicker off him, engulfing down to his fists, "Now it's time i return the favor" showing his fanged grin and charges toward the mages. His flaming fist smashes into the ground, sending waves of flames out far. The trees around started to catch fire and the dark mages start throwing spells towards the dragonslayer. Happy quickly swoops down and picks up Natsu as he jumped into the air to avoid the attacks.

"You ready to go home, Happy?" Natsu said quickly as his eyes dart around the ground.

"Aye sir!" Happy flies over the group and Natsu puffs out his chest.

"Fire Dragon's Roar!" a long, spiraling stream of fire shot out from his mouth, burning the entire ground with bright orange flames. The mages scattered while others where scorched. Natsu and Happy high-fived and turned to the wagon behind them. They nearly paled from the sight, the wagon was almost entirely destroyed. Happy flew Natsu down carefully and inspected to see if any of the goods were damaged.

"Oi, Happy, did you find it?" Natsu called over all the while keeping an eye out for any other loose bandits.

"Aye! Natsu, over here!" the dragonslayer walked over to the cat and kneeled down. Lifting up the heavy box off the ground, Natsu cracked it open to look inside. Much to their surprise, they half expected it to be full of treasure, instead, it was full of old, tattered books.

"What do you think it is?" Natsu looked at the books quizzically before shaking his head in disappointment.

"I don't know but, our client said specifically to bring his things back so, let's go Natsu!" Natsu nodded towards the cat and they started walking back to town.

* * *

Lucy was rushing around the guild, quickly helping Mira while setting up ideas for the special cake. Even though right now she had a general idea, it still took a lot of work to put together. She couldn't wait until Natsu got back from his job, Lucy will have the perfect cake set up just for him at her home. The baked alaska was a classic, big enough to feed a party - it'll be big enough to fill his belly. Mira caught Lucy humming, a small tune shes been humming for the past couple of days now.

"Excited about something, Lucy?" Mira smiles brightly at her while placing more cakes into the oven. Virgo was at her usual place by the counters, beating the batters continuously.

Lucy looked up to Mira and smiled lightly before eyeing the mess on the floor, "Somewhat. It's no big deal" Lucy quickly bent down to the floor to clean only to be met with Mira's face who was eyeing her devilishly.

"If you say so" Mira gleams towards the pink-haired maid, "Virgo, do you know what has Lucy so excited?" Lucy's eyes popped and got up quickly to quiet the maid, only she was a tad bit too late.

"She's setting up a surprise for the dragonslayer" Lucy's face went beet-red, completely unable to take back the woman's words. Lucy averted her eyes to the ground quickly, biting the end of her nails.

"Princess, do you wish to punish me?" slightly bowing her head towards her master.

"No...no...don't worry about it. Look we got more cakes to do and the day is almost over" rushing back to the cake batters.

Mira slid over to the celestial mage, smiling brighter than the sun, a smile so sweet - it was terrifying, "So..." placing a hand down suddenly in front of the blonde girl.

Lucy stiffened, a shiver ran down her spine as she smiled back up to Mira nervously, "So..." she retorted back.

"What plans do you have for Natsu, hm?" Mira bent down enough to be eye level with Lucy, without the slightest hint of backing down.

Lucy huffed quietly and folded her arms tightly together, "I'm just going to show him not all cakes are the same. When he came over the other day, he asked what the big deal was, that it was just cake. Well I'll show him!" balling a fist in front of herself with determination. Lucy closed her eyes and clenched her jaw, "I swear if that idiot still says it's just cake, he won't know what's coming to him!" throwing her hands down onto the counter-top with a loud slam. Mira giggled slightly and continued back to cake baking.

"Sounds like you got yourself a challenge, Lucy. Don't worry, I'll be rooting for you" the white-haired girl closed her eyes and started humming too, ' _They sure definitely make the cutest, clueless couple in this guild_ '

...

A few hours passed and they were getting ready to clean up and close. Lucy sighed heavily as she eyed the pile of dishes in the sink. Placing a small hand towel around her shoulder, she heard Virgo leaving while Mira stepped beside her.

"You don't have to do this, Lucy. You should go home" the blue-eyed girl frowned, a crease lining her forehead with concern.

Lucy waved her off, chuckling, "It's fine. Besides, i need to make some frosting before i leave anyway, i forgot to grab some earlier today and the shops are closed" Lucy yawned and stretched a few times. Placing her hands on both sides of her hips, "Besides, dishes won't clean themselves"

Mira smiled and nodded, "Very well Lucy. Lock up tight alright? We still got plenty more to do tomorrow"

...

' _I wonder if there's any cinnamon left..._ ' She thought after she finished scrubbing the last pot. Lucy turned to the kitchen cupboards and scanned through them quickly, ' _Oh, why did it have to be so high up!_ ' the celestial mage stood on her toes, reaching to the far back of the cabinet. Her thin fingers brushed against the bottle and accidentally pushed it further back, ' _Oh come on! Just a bit more..._ ' Lucy tried to climb further, stretching as far as her arm can go before suddenly losing her balance, "OH NO! _"_ Lucy yelped loudly and slipped backwards to suddenly have an arm grab her from behind.

"Oi, Lucy! Are you alright? Seems i got here just in time" the dragonslayer looked at her wide-eyed while placing her gently back down. Lucy's face burned with embarrassment as she fixes her clothes back up.

"Lucy has enough cushioning even if she did fall, Natsu!" Happy snickered between his paws. The celestial mage shot him a deathly glare and started to roll up her sleeve.

"Take that back you annoying feline!" the girl seethed between her teeth while glowering. Natsu cackled and patted the girl on her back. Lucy jumped and moved away quickly.

"NATSU! Don't encourage him!" She whined.

"You know he's just teasing, right Happy?" the dragonslayer eyed the cat warily, trying his best not to laugh himself.

Happy shook his head, holding paws onto his mouth, "AYE!"

Lucy sighed and placed a hand onto the counter - leaning, "Well, thanks for catching me, Natsu. What're you guys doing here this late anyway? Did you manage to complete the mission?" Lucy looked up after catching her breath, glaring at the high cabinet.

"Of course, who do you think you're talking to?" folding his arms together, smiling brightly at her.

"Natsu, you almost failed the mission! You burned down the wagon, if not for the box we would've been in trouble!" Happy whined in annoyance, "Then i wouldn't have had the money for more fish for Charle and me!"

Lucy arched a brow, confused, "Barely? What did you guys have to do?" Lucy tried to climb again but Natsu stopped her, "Hey! i needed to get the cinnamon down" she huffed before Happy flew up to retrieve it.

"Here ya go, Lucy! You could've just asked" the cat sat on the counter-top with the bottle and Lucy patted him.

"Thank you"

Natsu's face scrunched as he thought, "We had to get back some stolen books for the client. I don't know why a bunch of bandits would steal something that lame" His eyes fell to the blonde again curiously, "Anyway Lucy, Me and Happy are going to head home now, we just came to check out if anyone was left in the guild. Want us to walk you home?"

Lucy sighed and eyed the bottle in her hands, "No, not tonight. I'll be heading home soon myself after i finish what I'm doing..." her eyes closed and she sighed quietly, "Natsu..."

He was already half way out the door when he answered, "yeah?" turning his head back slightly.

"Come by my place tomorrow?" She looked up at him, a small smile spreading on her lips.

"Uh, sure. Later Luce!" he waved her off and left.

Happy looked at Lucy and snickered between laughs again, "You liiiiike, Natsu, Don't you Lucy?"

A vein popped on Lucy's head, face burning a bright red as she glared down the cat, "Just go home with Natsu you annoying cat!" Happy chortled with laughter and flew out quickly.

Lucy took a deep breath and sighed again, "Just what am i going to do with them? They've only been back for a few minutes and I'm already feeling more exhausted..." she closed her eyes as she twirled the small bottle in her hands, ' _I just hope he likes the cake. I have to get this done, tonight!_ ' she thought as she opened her eyes and looked down at the pre-baked cakes. Her gaze softened and started humming some more.

* * *

Natsu flopped onto his hammock, swinging him from the sudden movement. He closed his eyes while Happy curled onto the small pillow beside him, ' _What would've happened to her if i didn't come back when i did. I knew something in my gut was telling me to check the guild...Lucy could've hurt herself. Why would she be alone there anyway? Just what exactly is she doing?_ ' Natsu sighed loudly from his invasive thoughts and started rubbing the sides of his head in frustration, ' _That girl is so weird!_ ' he turned himself around, facing down into the pillow while his eyes peeked over. Natsu looked towards the small picture frame that hung on the wall, the dragonslayer, celestial mage and the exceed were all hugging together while smiling at the camera. A warm feeling tingled inside, finding himself smiling for a bit, ' _Good night, Lucy_ ' and his eyes drooped, falling asleep shortly after.

...

Morning came and Happy flew around, waking up Natsu. The dragonslayer held a pillow over his head, groaning.

"Happy, five more minutes"

The cat stared down and giggled to himself. He suddenly lunges on top of the the boy, making Natsu jump out of his hammock which swung him around a few times before dropping him onto the floor. Natsu glared at that the cat while rubbing his head, "What'd you do that for?"

"Did you forget already, Natsu? Lucy is waiting for us!" Happy sat on the couch nearby and pulled out his fish. The dragonslayer's eyes narrowed to the cat in confusion.

"Is she? I don't remember..." He got up carefully and tied his scarf around when he felt Happy landing on his head. The cat dipped his head down looking at Natsu in the eyes.

"How could you forget? Anyway, let's go see what she wants!" Natsu nodded and walked out the door with Happy still on his head.

...

It took them awhile to reach her apartment and like always, her window was wide open. A sweet smell filled his nose and he immediately jumped to the window. His eyes fell on the blonde that was still sleeping in the bed. Happy flew in quietly while Natsu climbed in after. Walking around Lucy's bed, he heard her mumbling something under her breath, '...Natsu'

Happy already left to the kitchen - following his nose. Natsu kneeled down in front of the bed and watched her sleep for a few minutes. Leaning his head down carefully, he saw the faintest smile lingering on her, ' _Must be a good dream_ ' he too started smiling until Happy flew back into the room.

The cat tugged at his scarf, pulling him backwards. Natsu fell onto his back and a loud thump was made. A shiver rolled down his back when he saw Lucy shoot up from the bed.

"who, what...?" she mumbled under her breath. Her bed head made Happy laugh, forgetting what he was going to say.

"Nice hair, Lucy!" Happy cackled and flew onto her lap, "We're here!" the cat stared at her wide-eyed.

Natsu got up carefully and looked at the blonde, " 'Morning!" waving at her with a grin spreading on his face. His nose picks up the sweet smell again and he turned his head towards the kitchen, "...still baking?" he questioned curiously. Lucy blinks a few times and yawned. Her eyes narrow to the cat on her lap before realizing she wasn't dreaming.

"Natsu? It's a bit early isn't it?" she grumbled as she got out of bed, stumbling slightly. Lucy's foot caught into the blanket and fell over. Natsu jumped over to her quickly after his eye caught the sudden movement. Stretching his arm out, he grabbed her waist and fell over her. Lucy groaned with annoyance, "Ugh, today feels like one of those days..." Lucy's eyes widen as her cheeks went crimson, "NATSU GET OFF!" pushing him up slightly and he sighed.

"Your welcome.." he grumbled and held a hand to his head. Happy was grinning devilishly and held his paws close to his face. Knowing he can use this later, he flew over the two and watched.

"I didn't mean..." Lucy fumbled with her words when she realized how rude that came out, sighing, "Look, it's early and falling over wasn't exactly a way to start the day. Thank you for catching me...again, Natsu" Lucy rubbed her temple as she starts grabbing some clothes, "Give me a few minutes to change and then i can tell you what we're going to do today" running off to the bathroom quickly, she locked the door and slid down to her feet. Her face buried into her arms, heart still racing, ' _That was too close...too...close_ ' she kept thinking to herself. Her lips parted slightly as she held a hand to it, ' _any closer and he would've...'_ Lucy shook her head furiously and nearly squealed from embarrassment, ' _Pull yourself together Lucy, Now is not the time to be losing yourself_ ' she huffed loudly and threw herself into the shower.

...

Natsu waltzed into the kitchen while he was waiting on Lucy and saw a huge box on the table. His eyes widened and walked over to it. Happy flew onto the table and stared up to the dragonslayer, "What do you think is in it?"

Natsu picked up the box curiously and smelled something spicy and yet sweet coming from it. From curiosity, he opened it slightly only to see a three layered cake inside, "Looks like another cake, Happy"

"Aren't you going to open it? This is probably what Lucy had us come over for!" the cat stared at the box, tail wagging with excitement, he really loved the cake Lucy made last time.

"I don't think so..." When he placed the box down, he heard Lucy walk in shortly after, ' _That was quick_ ' He thought as he turned around. His eyes widened when he saw her. Her skin was glistening with water droplets and her wet hair hung loosely over her shoulders. Natsu shook his head when the weird, warm feeling passed through him again.

"I took an extra long bath last night so, i only did a quick rinse for now" Lucy folded her arms and eyes narrowed towards the box, "Did you already peek?" She walked towards the fridge and pulled out a bowl.

Happy looked up to Natsu, "He peeked!" the cat squealed and flew out of the room. Lucy snapped her head to the dragonslayer who started to sweat bullets.

"I-I didn't do anything else i swear" he swallowed nervously, "Happy wanted to know..." realizing the cat was no longer there, "HAPPY!" he yelled.

Lucy shook her head laughing, "It's fine, i only covered it to keep it fresh. Open it" She moved over towards the table with the bowl and sat down. Natsu sighed before turning to open the box.

The cake looked bigger than last time, "This doesn't look like a strawberry cake Lucy.." he skeptically looked down to her confused, "What's this for?" before he can touch it, Lucy slapped his arm lightly.

"Not yet! Go to my room and wait while i finish this up, alright?" she pulled the cake to herself and Natsu frowned.

"Fine" he walked out quickly and Lucy giggled to herself, ' _I can't wait to see his face after this one_ ' She started pouring the cream onto it and then smoothed it out with small ridges in between. When all the cream finally settled she pulled out a match and grinned widely, ' _Now let's see him say it's just a cake!_ ' Turning around with the cake on the platter, she walked into the room to see Natsu sitting on her bed.

"Natsu, close the curtains and sit at the table here" she placed the cake down as she got the match ready.

Happy stared at the cake wide eyed, "Lucy, Did you make this for us?"

Lucy beamed and nodded, "Of course!"

Natsu turned back around and suddenly slid over the blanket that hung over the floor from earlier. Losing his balance, Lucy tried to get up and catch him. Happy flew out of the way only to bump into Lucy. The dragonslayer fell over the table behind him, crushing the cake entirely. Lucy got up and looked over to Natsu, only to have her face drop. Tears started to spill from her eyes and he got up carefully. He was grumbling under his breath with annoyance and his entire back was smothered by cake. However, that didn't keep his attention long when he heard Lucy sobbing beside him. The blonde got up and ran out of the apartment, tears falling rapidly. Without a word, Natsu looked at Happy who was just as shocked as he was. The dragonslayer got up quickly and chased after Lucy.

* * *

 **AN:** _Well, We all knew it was coming at one point right? What do you think Natsu is going to do now? How is Lucy going to cope? Hmmm...Well only a few chapters left to wrap this short little story up! See you guys here next week and thanks so much for the continued support!~_


	4. Chapter 4

_..chapter 4.._

Jellal was still passing through several shops in town but still couldn't find what he was looking for. Taking a deep breath, he sits down at a nearby bench that over looked the ocean shore. He closed his eyes as the warm sea-breeze passed through, brushing his hair across softly.

 _There was humming across the halls. The blue-haired male listened as he followed it and came across a strange room. Filled from top to bottom with ribbons, cloths, dresses and costumes. Large mirrors were hung on the walls at the far backside. Standing in front of those said mirrors, was the beautiful scarlet mage, Erza. Jellal watched carefully, leaning against the door-frame and has yet to announce his presence. Although, someone like her would've...should've noticed him by now but, she hasn't. He watched as the woman stared into the mirror, looking for something he couldn't quite figure out. Erza pivots around on her heels and heads to the back closest and still hasn't glanced at the doorway. Jellal smiled faintly to himself, wondering what could possibly have this girl so distracted. His eyes followed her as she came out and his lips parted slightly in shock. Erza Scarlet, the woman who was most well-known in Fairy Tail to be diligent, elegant, fierce and yet...here she was. The woman stood in front of the mirrors with an exquisitely, trimmed Wedding dress. Beaded around the smallest ripples in the dresses skirt, sheer cloth covering her arms and a tightly sewn heart on the bodice. The man was completely awestruck by her beauty, he almost missed her small smile curling at the end of her lips as she twirled slightly around. However that short little show came to a halt when her eyes finally saw him. Jellal showed a sheepish grin as he bowed slightly towards her. Erza's face flushed furiously, matching the color of her bright red hair._

 _"_ J-Jellal, w-what're you d-doing here?" _She could barely made out her words as he slowly approached her. He took her hand and held it gently between his own._

 _"_ I came here looking for you..." _he spoke gently, his low voice held a slight amusement to it as he looked her in the eyes_ , "Apparently, i missed a memo about you as well, Ms. Scarlet"

 _Erza turned her gaze away and slightly huffed, only slightly. Her eyes flickered to him a couple times and folded her arms, "_ I'm just trying things on for a play...What'd you need?" _Jellal shook his head. He knew he can be a pretty bad liar himself but, this was something else. If only he can just come out and ask her what's on her mind. She'll only just deviate from it or not talk about it._

 _"_ Must i have a reason to see you?" _The scarlet mage turned to look at him, only to see him looking at her with the sweetest smile. Erza let out a deep sigh and moved towards the closest._

"I'm going to change, give me a few"

Jellal opened his eyes, realizing he dozed off longer than he intended. The sun was setting soon and he still had places to look through for the perfect ring. He really hasn't come up with a way to ask her or present it but, he knows when the time comes it'll just flow. He chuckled to himself slightly realizing this woman wouldn't just want an ordinary proposal or wedding, or would she? Erza was always full of surprises. He can never predict or read this woman and that's what intrigues him the most. She is the strongest and most caring person he ever came across. Went through hell and back and still holds her head high. Jellal loved it, he loves her and there is not one thing he will change about her. Getting up tiredly, he looks around and noticed a few trains coming in. He might as well catch the next ride to Crocus, maybe that lavish city will have what he's looking for.

* * *

Natsu ran after Lucy as if his life depended on it. He never saw this girl cry her heart out over something like that. No one was hurt, there was no perilous danger nearby so it perplexed him as to why she would cry over a smashed cake. It was just a cake, can always bake another. The dragonslayer focused heavily on her scent that still lingered in the air, trying to pinpoint where she ran off to. He first followed the trail out of her house, to a nearby library, to the guild, to the park and now he was left at her house. She has yet to come back and he still couldn't find her. Natsu sent out Happy to look for her with an aerial view and still no luck.

"gah, I'm just going to wait until she comes back here" Natsu grumbled as he leaned over the river canals edge. He looked into the water to see Happy floating over him.

"I don't think you should give up Natsu. That isn't like you!" the cat chimed. He too wanted to keep looking for their friend.

"Where could she have run off though? Her smell is everywhere!" he whined as he held his head between his hands. His thoughts started to wander slightly as it fell quiet. The soft water sounds that splashed occasionally was the only thing heard. Happy curled onto Natsu's head and the streets were empty. The sun was setting and out of ideas for places to search. It made him sigh the more he pictured the crying look in her eyes. Natsu never liked to see his friends upset and it most especially pained him to see his favorite blonde in tears. He couldn't place an exact reason as to why it bothered him the most to see her like that because anyone else he knew they'd get over it eventually. However, this was Lucy. His best friend that's been there with him since the beginning. Her bright, twinkling brown eyes that held such a sincere smile whenever they completed a mission. It still bothered him she didn't come but right now wasn't the time to worry about it. What he's worried about is her whereabouts. Walking away from the canal, Happy jumped off of him and flew by his head.

"You going to try again, Natsu?"

"Yeah, we have to find her, not going to let her wander around alone when it's this late" he spoke when his eyes caught something in the distance.

* * *

Lucy cried her heart out as she ran around the town, aimlessly, not caring where she ended up. The amount of effort and heart she put into that cake was destroyed so quick before her eyes. She couldn't believe it. It didn't even last long enough for the flames to coat it. Deep down she knew today was going to be one of those days, ever since she woke up and tripped out of bed. Lucy stopped as she eyed the library. Sighing heavily, 'I _can't even recreate the same exact cake even if i tried_ ' she thought warily, ' _I knew i should've wrote it down..._ ' She sniffled a few times and walked inside the building and straight to the cooking section. Her eyes darted around for extravagant cakes and pastries. Grabbing several books, she went straight to a corner and flipped through them. ' _That cake was suppose to be the cake of all cakes. A cake i made for HIM, Natsu of all people. I never even baked cakes for just myself_ ' her invasive thoughts continued as she flipped through the recipe books, ' _All i wanted, was for him to appreciate things for what they are_ ' she closed the book and noticed a happy couple on the back cover. Her eyes narrowed, slightly glaring at the smiling faces, ' _How can anything be 'just' is? People put so much effort into things for it to be different. To be special above all else. Why can't he see that? I know it wasn't his fault for falling but..._ ' Lucy leaned her head down into her arms. The cool table pressed against her cheek when she hiccuped slightly from the crying, ' _Why can't he see that I'm trying my best for him?_ '

The celestial mage got up and placed the books back onto their proper shelves and left. Her thoughts stopped for the time being as she eyed the sky. The sun was barely past noon and no where to go. So for now, she waltzed to the guild, not caring who was around. Lucy was actually surprised Natsu hasn't caught up yet, ' _Don't tell me he's still back at my apartment..._ ' Lucy grimaced as she opened the guild doors. People looked up to her and waved as she passed through. Taking her usual spot at the bar, Mira looked down to her, frowning, "What's the matter, dear? Something happen?"

The blonde barely glanced up as she leaned her elbow onto the bar counter, "Everything happened..." she groaned. Mira shook her head and placed the cups she was holding down. She grabs the celestial mage and drags her to the back towards the kitchen.

"Alright" the white-haired woman narrowed her gaze and folded her arms tightly across her chest, "Tell me about it, Did Natsu do something again?"

Lucy's face pinched ever so slightly and the woman caught it before she changed it, "Something like that" tone was flat and Lucy looked towards the cake pans that were neatly lined up.

"Did you bake him the cake, Lucy? Did he not like it?" as she threw more questions towards the girl, Lucy's expression changes to something Mira couldn't quite place. Confusion, sadness and guilt, "Lucy, you know you can tell me anything. If you want, i have a perfectly good punishment in mind" she smiled lightly even though she meant every word of it.

Lucy shook her head and chuckled only for a moment, "No punishing" She sighs heavily and looks at the blue-eyed girl, "More like accidents happened and it just so happened to be the cake i was about to hand him..." Her face scrunched as she continued, "It wasn't even his fault and yet i left him there. I shouldn't have but, it was instinct. I just wanted it to be so perfect and it got ruined so fast and we're pressing time as it is for Erza's party. There's always got to be something.." Lucy started to bite the end of her thumbnail when Mira patted her shoulder and gave her a tight squeeze.

"You can't say you haven't tried. Impressing that boy is challenging enough so you shouldn't be beating yourself up over it. We all know how he is and i think you're overlooking everything" Mira spoke gently, mother-like. She brushed the golden hair on Lucy's head before pulling back, "Why don't you go try looking for him and see if he apologizes. I know he would despite whatever happened" she smiled and Lucy frowned slightly.

"Mira, i think you're overlooking everything. I wasn't trying to impress him! I was merely proving a point to him. That not everything is the same. Everything is different for a reason, specially made for a purpose. I just wanted to see the look on his face when he realizes it isn't just cake" Lucy moved away slightly towards the doorway when Mira pulled her back by the arm. Tugging slightly, Lucy looks back confused.

"You're the one overlooking the obvious honey. You said it yourself, you want him to see that special something you put so much effort into. Something you did for him." A gleam shined in her eyes and Lucy blushed.

"T-that's what you call _way_ overlooking...i don't want him..."

Mira cuts her off, "Am i wrong? I'm just repeating the words you said" she shrugs as she starts pushing Lucy out the door, "Go see him and you'll know soon enough, Lucy"

Without another word, Lucy was shoved away from the bar and into the guild hall. The blonde was puzzled and was suddenly greeted by her friend.

"Hey there Lucy" Gray waved as he approached her, "How's everything going? I only just finished the sculptures for the occasion. I got to say, A lot more difficult than it should've been" rubbing the backside of his head when he realized the long look on her face.

"Hey Gray" her voice was small, easy to miss if he wasn't so close to her by then.

"Something wrong? Speaking of which, where is that pink-headed pyro anyway?" looking around the guild, "No wonder its been unusually quiet. Has he not come back from the mission yet? I heard he has, not that i care though..." His eyes fell back onto Lucy who was still looking out of it.

"uh huh..." she mumbled, not really paying attention to the ice mage.

"Hey..." placing a hand on her, Lucy snapped her gaze towards him, "What's wrong? Did something happen?"

Lucy sighed and brushed through her fingers through her hair slowly before looking towards the guild doors, "something like that, Gray for now I'm just going to go. I'll tell you later."

Gray blinked a few times and nodded, "Uhm, alright. Be careful Lucy" and he walks away.

...

Lucy was spacing out so much, she didn't even realize she walked to the park instead of her own way home. She stopped when she reached its center, the tallest tree in the park that overlooked everything. Leaning against the trunk she breathed in the clean air that brushed by and slid down. Her eyes looked up to the sky, searching for anything other than the pale blue. As if it was suddenly going to give her the answers she's looking for. ' _Mom, what would you do?_ ' Lucy looked to the ground beside her and saw a single small flower. She moved her hand to it and touched the petals ever so gently, ' _i guess we have something in common don't we?_ ' Lucy pulled her hand back and brushed her fingers through her hair, holding her head for a moment, ' _Natsu is my best friend, so of course I'll do things for him. Why does Mira say otherwise..._ ' Her eyes narrowed, ' _...Jellal been doing it too lately_ ' sighing heavily, the celestial mage finally got up. "I need to head home soon" Lucy looked back to the small flower beside her and smiled faintly, ' _i need to go apologize to him. I really shouldn't have ran off like that, things happen for a reason i suppose'_ turning on her heel, she starts heading home.

The celestial mage started humming on her way back. There was almost a slight skip to her step. Feeling lighter on her feet, she started going through several scenarios on how to talk to Natsu. Lucy knows she probably didn't need to simply because Natsu isn't the type to get worried over something like that without a good reason. She ran off and cried and firmly believes he just went home.

But she didn't expect this, didn't expect the pink-headed dragonslayer waiting in the front of her apartment. Lucy froze in her steps by the bridge, eyes locked on him. Shaking her head slightly, she chuckled, ' _Why am i getting so nervous, just smile and go_ '

Lucy started walking again but Natsu ran over to her, quickly.

"LUCY!" he started waving over to her and stopped a foot form her.

The blonde grimaced, "Hey Natsu" as soon as she smiled and waved at him, she was suddenly pulled into a tight gripped hug. The girl's eyes bulged out of her head and desperately started looking for oxygen, "N-Natsu...?" she barely managed to speak, "air please..."

He loosened his grip ever so slightly but didn't let go, "I'm sorry" he spoke quietly.

Lucy moved her head back slightly only to see his eyes staring right at her. It held some worry to it and seemed kind of guilty, "Sorry?.." she sighed and giggled quietly, "You shouldn't apologize, i overreacted. Really, we can just bake another..."

He leaned his head onto her, foreheads touching, "I made you cry, Lucy. That's not something I'm going to just drop. That obviously meant something to you"

She froze, "I-It's just cake, really. I just wanted to..."

He lets go an moved a hand behind his head, "Normally, i wouldn't care or have a preference" he turned away and slight pink tinted his cheeks. The sunset made it barely visible, "..but you made it" he continued.

Lucy blushed furiously, "B-Because i made it? Natsu, I'm always cooking for you though..."

Natsu laughed and looked at her, a wide grin spreading onto his face, canines poking through, "Why do you think me and happy always come over, Luce"

The celestial mage huffed but couldn't help laughing herself, "I'm sorry about running, Natsu. Come let's have dinner, My treat"

Natsu's eyes widened in excitement, "sounds great!"

They smiled and headed into the apartment while Happy giggled from the top open window, "They so liiiiiike each other"

...

Bellies full, Happy is sleeping, Natsu is sprawled over on Lucy's couch and Lucy started cleaning the dishes. Her thoughts scattered around about earlier. A part of her sort of wished it went differently but, which part? She shut off the water and thought for a moment. What could she have changed? She was satisfied, somewhat with how she managed to apologize without worrying but something still felt...off. Lucy sighed and placed her small hand towel down and headed back to her room. Her eyes looked around and fell onto the sleeping dragonslayer that was on her couch. Only snoring slightly and Happy was curled up on the end. She turned towards her closest and pulled out small blankets for the both of them.

She kneels down beside the couch after she placed the blankets over. Unconsciously she started to move her fingers and brushes through the loose pink locks of hair from his face, ' _Maybe i was expecting something slightly more_ ' the corner of her lip turned downward as her brows furrowed, ' _...but wouldn't that mean..._ ' She sighed and quickly moved away from him towards her bed. ' _Nope, nope nope. I need sleep, i need to get back to cake baking with Mira tomorrow_ ' Lucy stole one more glance at Natsu, "good night" she mumbled and buried herself into the bed.

* * *

 **AN:** _hmmm...how is Lucy ever going to admit she likes him...Jellal has his hands full impressing his girl and there's still a ton of cakes left to bake. X3 hope you guys are enjoying this little story so far and see you guys here next week!_


	5. Chapter 5

_..chapter 5.._

Mira hummed quietly to herself as she set up the kitchen once again for the cake baking. There was only two days left until Erza comes back, so it didn't leave much time left to prepare. As soon as she turned on the ovens, she heard her little helper arrive with the noisy dragonslayer.

"We're back!" Natsu yelled over the guild hall. Lucy rubbed her ears as she saw the white-haired woman walk into the bar. With a bright smile, she waved over to the celestial Mage and the blonde walked over quickly. Happy flew over to the white cat almost immediately after spotting her.

"Oh great, the pink menace is back" the ice mage grumbled from his seat. Juvia returned to her spot beside Gray and sat down.

"Juvia just finished the most spectacular display for Miss Scarlet! You really should see it Gray-sama, I think you'll be proud!" The woman continued talking while the pink-haired dragonslayer walked through.

Entirely ignoring the ice mages presence, he was too excited to see the amount of cakes the women have prepared and the fact that he was all too happy to have spent the night with Lucy and received breakfast. Lucy already summoned Virgo and the maid got to work immediately while Mira talked to the blonde.

"So, how'd it go with Natsu last night?" the woman's sly smile made Lucy sweat heavily. Mira kept an eye on Natsu who was getting closer towards the bar, "Well?" she grabbed a mug and filled it with fire whiskey and placed it onto the counter. However before Lucy could say anything, the topic of talk arrived to his seat beside the celestial mage.

"Yo!" he grinned at Mira and started to chug down his drink.

Lucy sighed with relief and got up from her chair, "I guess its time to start baking" Mira pouted slightly and then eyed the pink-haired boy.

"That won't get you off the hook Miss Lucy" winking at the girl. Lucy huffed while the dragonslayer looked at them with a confused expression.

"How many did you guys get done?" he asked curiously, finishing his whiskey, Mira took the glass and started to clean it.

"A little over half" Mira filled in and turned towards the kitchen, "Would you like to help Natsu?" Lucy stopped in her steps, turning around, she waited for the dragonslayer's answer.

"Mmm, Sure since Lucy won't be going on any missions anytime soon" shrugging and headed towards the back as well, "Maybe we can cook the cakes faster" he spoke excitedly.

The blonde sighed and placed her hands on her hips, shaking her head slightly, "Don't burn anything. We cannot afford to lose any cakes at the moment" Natsu grinned, flickering his flames off his fingertips.

"I promise" Lucy grimaced and walked into the kitchen. Mira watched the two carefully and smiled brighter than ever, ' _If there is a will, there is a way_ ' the woman thought devilishly.

...

Of course, it didn't take too long for Lucy to get annoyed. Mira didn't pay them much mind, happily watching as she prepared her batch of cake pans. Natsu was in charge of baking the cakes, the first few were badly under cooked or over cooked.

He was slowly growing impatient by the technicality of it, "When are you going to let me do more than one, Lucy?" he whined as he watched her fill up more cake pans.

"When you stop burning them" she replied curtly.

Natsu huffed loudly and Mira giggled, "Maybe you should stop doubting him, Lucy. Give him a chance"

The celestial mage looked up at her, through the bangs covering her face, "Mira, he already ruined 10 of them..." The dragonslayer moved over to Lucy and looked at her sheepishly.

"I'll work on it, promise"

Lucy raised an eyebrow at him and sighed heavily, "Fine, one chance otherwise, out!"

Natsu cackled excitedly, "alright, let's get this finished tonight!' he said a bit too loudly. Lucy's gaze softened and laughed from the unrealistic goal. She knew they can almost finish by tonight, but it was almost 200 cakes to finish.

Mira started humming again and placed some more cakes into the oven, Virgo watched her master carefully and noticed the flustered look on the blonde's face. Natsu got a little more serious towards the cake baking and finally stopped burning the batches.

After pulling some cakes out of the oven, Mira placed out some to cool while the others were ready to start frosting. Lucy grabbed the silver bowls and pulled the cakes out of the tins.

"I got something i need to grab from town really quick, I can trust you two here?" Mira had to get something from town for real but, a part of her needed an excuse to leave them two alone. Proud of her little tactic, she noticed Lucy smiling up to Natsu as he did little fire tricks in between the cake baking.

"Yeah of course Mira" Lucy finally turned her attention away in that moment, "As long as you hurry back" Lucy quickly grabbed Mira's cake portions and started putting them into the oven.

Mira nodded and hummed on her way out.

Natsu started eyeing the frosting, feeling the hunger pains from not eating all day. Lucy finished with the ovens and turned around to see the dragonslayer making his way towards the sugary sweets.

"Don't even think about it. We don't have enough as it is, maybe that's why Mira went out?" she started talking to herself as she pulled the bowl away from Natsu.

"...but Lucy, We haven't eaten since this morning!" he huffed and sat in the stool nearby.

"After these last few cakes, i can probably cook us something" she said while coating the cakes in frosting. Natsu propped his arm onto the table while leaning his head onto his hand. Peeking from one eye, he watches the celestial mage.

"Not even a bite?" he mumbles.

She stops and sighs. Turning around, she hands him a spoon, "Just one" Feeling a bit better, he grabs the soon immediately but stops to think for a moment. When the celestial mage turned away, he got out of his chair and stood behind her.

Lucy didn't even realize it at first, still coating the cakes in frosting quickly while Mira was out. She started humming quietly and soon as she turned around to grab the strawberries, she squeaked when finally taking notice of him.

"Natsu! Sit down, i need to get through"

He didn't move, much. Instead he grinned devilishly and wiped a small portion of the frosting onto her cheek. Her eyes widened and started to flush.

"What're you doing! i gave that to you to eat while you wait. Stop messing around" she tried to grab her hand-towel to clean it but he stopped her. He started cackling, watching her flustered expressions change.

"Your face is priceless, Luce" he continued laughing as he licked the spoon clean. Lucy huffed and rolled up her sleeves.

"Glad you're having fun at my expense" she grabs a small portion of frosting onto her finger and wiped it onto his nose, "Now we're even" she said triumphantly.

Natsu's eyes widened and grinned, "No its not" Lucy raised an eyebrow and he moved closer. He started wiping the frosting onto her forehead.

"GAH! NATSU! STOP!" she started laughing and squealing as she tried to squirm away.

"Nope, I'm not done yet!" turning her around, arms locked around her, he quickly scoops up another spoon of frosting while Lucy tried to get out of his hold.

"We can't be wasting time doing this!"

"A few minutes break won't kill you" he replied and let go of her finally. She turned around huffing, only to get a spoon of frosting flicked towards her. Natsu barked out laughing as she wiped the frosting out of her hair.

"Okay, now that does it" she huffed. She flicked the frosting from her hair out towards him but he ducked out of the way successfully.

"Going to have to do better than that" sticking his tongue out at her.

"Ugh, you know what, I'm not doing this" she quickly moved to the sink only to have him pull her back from it.

"C'mon Luce, When did you ever give up so easily"

"I'm not giving up. I'm saving the frosting, now if you'll excuse me. I have a mess to clean and more frosting to make because of you" she stuck her tongue out at him only to have him pull her face closer to his. Her heart sped up and Lucy started to fumble with her words, "W-what're you doing? That's a bit too close Natsu" Her face went bright red and he suddenly licks the frosting off the side of her face and Lucy nearly felt her heart drop, "h-huh?" she squeaked as her face went completely beet red. Her eyes nearly popped and shoved him back. Holding the side of her face she ran towards the sink, "what're you thinking?!" she mumbled between panicked breaths.

"You make so many funny faces Lucy" he laughed and clapped his hands in accomplishments.

Lucy huffed and eyed the powdered sugar beside her. Turning her eye slowly to the side, she sees him eating more of the frosting from the silver bowl. Grabbing the powdered sugar, she walks over behind him and tapped his shoulder. He turned around only to have the sugar dumped over his head. His entire being was covered in white, powdered sugar. Lucy grinned and tossed the hand towel over her shoulder, "Maybe you should think twice before wasting anymore of that frosting" Grabbing the bowl away from him again and moved it to the other counter. His brows furrowed and narrowed his gaze to the blonde in front of him. Shaking the powder off himself, it started to coat everything around him.

"Hey, don't go coating everything with that!" moving over towards him, but that was her mistake. Showing her a toothy grin, he shakes the rest of it over her. Lucy huffed as she tried to cover herself with the towel, "Don't get that on me!"

"You started it" he retorted and grabbed her into his arms again.

Now her entire front was covered in powdered sugar, including her hair and face.

"Let go Natsu"

"Nope"

Lucy sighed and tried to move her arms that was still holding onto the towel. Slowly pulling up her arm, she managed to clean a part of her shoulders only to have Natsu move his face in closer again. She swallowed thickly, feeling her heart rate pick up again from his close proximity.

"Seriously, We have to get this finished Natsu. So when you're done, clean yourself up"

He didn't say anything and leaned his head onto hers. Lucy was left confused from the sudden change in atmosphere, ' _What's going through his head right now?'_ she thought when she suddenly felt his breath on her neck. Her breathing cut short and shuddered when he tickled her neck with his nose.

"You smell nice" he whispered in a strange low tone.

Her eyes widened tremendously, "Natsu?...What're you..."

They got interrupted when someone cleared their throat across the kitchen.

"I guess Mira isn't here then" Gray eyed the two curiously.

Natsu growled quietly under his breath, annoyed at the sudden interruption from his rival, "What do you want, droopy-eyes?" moving away from Lucy, he quickly went over to the sink and cleaned his face off.

The ice mage wasn't stupid, he knew those two had a thing for each other, but the fact he finally saw something had his interest peaked for the moment.

"If i didn't interrupt anything, Let Mira know the guild master was looking for her" watching them carefully for another minute before leaving.

Lucy nearly squealed with embarrassment, not only was she beyond confused about Natsu's intentions but the fact, they were caught by her guild mate.

"I think I'm done here for tonight" she mumbled, eyeing herself warily from the sugar coated mess, "Kitchen is a mess, today's batches are done and it's getting late already" She turned around towards the sink to see Natsu already gone, ' _Great, now where did he go?'_ she thought with annoyance, ' _leaving me to clean this all by myself...'_ she fumed quietly and started cleaning after tying her hair up. Happy flew into the kitchen and sat on a cleaned counter.

"What happened to Natsu?" the cat spoke, startling the blonde girl.

"H-huh?...Oh, Hey there Happy. Actually i was wondering that myself, is he not in the guild hall?" she said while scrubbing the counters.

Happy shook his head, "No, he left the guild in a hurry, so i thought something happened. Lucy, why is he covered in sugar?" the cat noticed she too, was covered head to toe, in the white substance. The cats eyes gleamed and started to snicker, "Did you two have a food fight?"

Lucy looked at the cat and shook her head, "Something like that. He's going to hear it from me later though, leaving me to clean this mess by myself and wasted majority of the frosting" huffing, she moved the pans into the sink and Mira walked in quietly.

Happy turned his head around and looked towards the white-haired mage, "Lucy and Natsu had a food fight!" the cat squealed.

Lucy's eyes snapped to the doorway and saw Mira smiling at her, "I take it you guys had fun" she placed the bags down and started to help Lucy out.

The girl sighed heavily and shook her head in defeat, "I'm sorry. You trusted me to watch over the kitchen and it turned into this..." Glaring towards the empty bowl of frosting, "It's going to take awhile to make the next batch"

Mira's gaze softened and chuckled, "don't worry about it, i grabbed some extra supplies on the way here"

"That's a relief"

"I saw Natsu leave on my way back by the way. Mind if i ask what happened? He seemed quite troubled by something"

Lucy's face fell and her expression pinched, "troubled? By what? Leaving me alone with this mess?"

The woman shook her head, "I don't know, you tell me" her smile didn't fall, instead she continued to pry noticing the two were wearing the same expressions. An expression of guilt.

"Nothing happened...per say. Gray came in telling us the guild master was looking for you. Then before i had a chance to say anything, he disappeared on me without a word.

"Oh really?" she held a finger to her chin, thinking, "Nothing else happened while i was gone? I can see you guys had some fun"

Lucy's face blush furiously, remembering the weird thing he said before he left. Mira's keen eye caught the expression on her face and nearly squealed, "So something did happen?" moving quickly over to her.

"N-no, nothing happened, really. It's just..." Mira pulled the girl onto the stool and sat by her.

"Start from the beginning Lucy dear"

"b-beginning? I don't know what you're talking about"

"Since i sent you home last night" Staring down the girl with her deep blue eyes.

Lucy bit her bottom lip and eyes flickered towards the cat who was still listening on the whole conversation. Happy looked too comfortable to not be eavesdropping.

Mira swayed her head slightly to the side, gesturing with her eyes, for the cat to leave, now. Happy pouted and eventually left the kitchen.

"Look, nothing happened. I talked to him yesterday about the whole misunderstanding. He was okay with it and we had dinner. That's it" feeling confused about what Mira was trying to get out of her.

"I was right though Lucy."

"which part?"

"That you were overthinking the obvious. He apologized to you, didn't he?" Leaning her head onto her hands. Mira's gaze softened while Lucy continued to blush.

"Y-yeah he did, even though it wasn't his fault. So i cooked him dinner and then fell asleep at my place"

"And you weren't happy?"

"I was, relieved actually but, i don't know,,." Mira's eyes widened.

"What's wrong?"

Lucy looked at her, "I don't know...that's the thing. I guess i was kind of expecting something else from him"

"Oh really? Like what?"

Lucy sighed and shook her head, "Sometimes he can be so mature and other times it feels like I'm back to square one. I guess that's what it means to be best friends with someone..."

Mira chuckled, ' _Does this girl realize what she's saying?_ ' she thought with amusement, "Did you want something more from him Lucy? Something more than friends?"

The girl's mouth opened slightly to say something only for her to close it back up. Lips firmly pressed together as she shook her head no, "I don't know anymore. I really shouldn't be thinking like that, he's just my friend. It's all it'll ever be"

The white-haired woman placed a hand onto her shoulder, "Not unless you do something about it" pointing a finger at her with her other hand.

"Mira, I'm not ruining this relationship. I'm honestly happy with the way things are now"

"Keep telling yourself that deary" She smiled as she closed her eyes.

"I'm serious!" she folded her arms and turned her head away.

Mira peeked at the girl, her face still entirely flustered, "So what happened here?"

Lucy flickered her eyes towards her, "he was complaining about being hungry and thought the way to solve things was to throw frosting at me"

The mage tilted her head slightly, "well it seems you had you're part in it too, from the way he looked. Did he say anything before he left?"

The celestial mage shook her head all too quickly and stood up, "Nope, nothing" and quickly turned around to finish cleaning.

Mira sighed and figured she'll stop interrogating the poor girl for now, "I see. So tomorrow is the last day to finish preparing" She knew the guild master was looking for her, before she left. The cunning girl sent Gray to check in on them before herself. Knowing something definitely did happen between the two, according to Gray, she figures she'll wait until Lucy is comfortable to talk about it later.

"This week flew by so quickly" Lucy mumbled between her work. Placing the cooled down cakes onto the trays neatly.

"It sure has" Mira started humming again and helped Lucy clean up the kitchen.

* * *

Natsu rushed home quickly and immediately threw himself in the scalding hot shower. Happy still never caught up to him, so it left him time to think to himself.

What _was_ going through his head before? At first, he really only wanted to mess with her, but the more sugary sweets he played with, the more carried away he got. Seeing her flustered expressions made his heart jump with excitement, wanting to see more of it and didn't know why. That smile of hers, that face she makes when embarrassed, he wanted it all for himself. Her scent was captivating him the closer he was to her and that sweet smell mixed with it entirely. It started to fog his " _usual_ " rational thinking. He didn't even realize he was that close to her until Gray walked in. Completely out of his mind, he was irritated being interrupted and being interrupted by Gray of all people.

Natsu squeezed his eyes shut as he leaned onto his shower wall, small growls escaped his chest, not realizing what he was doing.

He wanted to go back to Lucy but it was already late. He started to feel bad for leaving her in the first place but he had to cool down his head and really wanted to clean the mess off. So made plans to head back to Lucy's place, knowing she'll be there when hes done.

Picturing that girl coated in the sugary mess had him feeling confused again. Started to think what would've happened if he wasn't interrupted by the ice mage. Lucy smelled so sweet, her skin was warm to the touch. A small feeling lit up inside, urging him to get closer to her. Burying his face into her neck, he inhaled her smell, making him feel even warmer inside. A strange feeling he didn't quite understand very well.

Natsu's breath was growing heavier the more he thought about it, the way she tasted when he licked her cheek in that one moment. Oh how badly he wanted to clean the rest of it off.

Then his thoughts finally stopped, eyes widening as he shook his head, ' _What's wrong with me?'_ he thought irritably. Her foggy brown eyes flashed in his mind and then he quickly shuts off the water, "I need to go see her" he said quietly to himself.

As he left the shower room, he saw Happy flying in with fish in his small paws, "So this is where you were Natsu! Mira chased me away!" he whined and sat onto the couch, "She was talking to Lucy and Lucy is mad at you!" he said as he started to chew on his fish.

"Mad at me?" he asked feeling confused.

"You ditched her!" finishing one fish, he started working on the next.

"I didn't ditch!" he scowled towards the cat.

"She doesn't know that. You should go see her Natsu or she going to make you pay" the cat giggled.

Natsu huffed, "I was already on my way back" grumbling as he threw on his vest and scarf.

"Hurry Natsu! It's getting late"

Without another word, he left to Lucy's apartment while the cat was left home alone. Happy flew onto the hanging hammock and stared at the small photo behind it, "Natsu, you're so dense" the cat giggled, "She totally liiikes you" The cat curled into a ball and fell asleep, awaiting to hear what happens the next day.

* * *

 **AN:** _Ahhh, so close to the end of this little story and some progress was already made! Sort of XD BE PATIENT people, got to save the best for last! Thanks you so much again for the continued support and ill see you all next week \\(^.^)/_


	6. Chapter 6

_..chapter 6.._

It was getting late and Lucy was still left cleaning the mess in the kitchen. Huffing angrily, she scrubbed the floors repeatedly as she mumbled under her breath from irritation. Sweat dripped down her face and the dried sugar clung to her skin, almost turning into a crystal like substance. She wiped most of it off, but was still left with the residue in places she didn't pay much attention to, especially when she knew she was going to be taking a thorough shower when she got home. Oh how she thought of the many things she'll be doing once she stepped into that hot tub, exfoliating her skin being number one, the loofah to the back and extra bath soap beads - to soak into her skin. Lucy was also left in a dilemma, stuck between the thoughts of what Mira said, irritation of being left alone to clean the sugary coated floors and counters and the odd thing Natsu said before leaving. Normally, she wouldn't mind it as much and accept the strange compliment, but this was Natsu. Her best friend who normally wouldn't care to say such things unless asked.

The celestial mage sighed as she sat back leaning against the kitchen counter. Taking in deep breaths after finishing the floors. The linoleum floors shined brightly, getting to and cleaning every crack she could possibly find. Her brows pinched realizing she could've had this done faster if she had help, ' _had_ '.

"I'm going to get that boy" she gritted between her teeth. Standing up, Lucy looked to the clock and realized how late it was getting. Throwing the rags down onto the counter, she wiped the excess sweat and mess from herself. She put on the water faucet and let the warm water run through as her thoughts continued. ' _What would've happened if Gray hadn't come in?'_ She stared blankly into the spiraling water inside of the sink as she thought, ' _Why didn't i try to move away? What exactly was I expecting to happen? It was just so unexpected, i froze up..._ ' She held a hand to her face, feeling confused and tired, ' _Just what am i going to do?_ ' She opened her eyes and stared at the Fairy Tail mark on her hand. Her lips curled up into a smile as she remembered that moment when she first met Natsu. How strange of a coincidence it was to search for Fairy Tail and it just so happened to stumble across their guild-mate. Ever since then, they've always been together. At first it was strange to have him always barging in on her apartment, but she has long grown use to it. It was then she couldn't seem to get comfortable without having him around.

Lucy shut off the water and sighed. She had to get home and throw herself in that tub to clean herself properly. As angry as she was for being ditched and left alone in the kitchen, she couldn't find it in herself to stay mad. Maybe she just wanted an excuse to yell at him, not because of the mess, but because he left without saying anything. Why would he get so unusually close, say something to her and just leave because Gray showed up. Shaking her head, she pulled up her bag and started to head home. Double checking she locked up the guild, she started walking down the quiet, empty road.

The night air was calm, barely any breeze passing through and Lucy just kept her eyes closed for the most part as she walked. Swinging her arms slightly without a care in the world, she didn't realize someone was watching her. Lucy took in a deep breath and smiled, excited about her free time after the cake party for Erza. She knew deep down, she was about done with cake baking. She loved cooking, but this was a bit extreme even for her. She stopped suddenly when she heard something crack behind her. Whipping her blonde head around, she looked around carefully and saw nobody. Shrugging, she continued walking ahead and accidentally bumped into someone. Rubbing her head, she bowed slightly, "I-I'm sorry, i wasn't looking and -"

"It's fine Lucy"

Lucy opened her eyes and saw the familiar brown eyes and blue hair, "Jellal"

"What're you doing out this late?"

"I was just heading home actually. When did you get back?" relaxing her tense shoulders, she realized it must've been him she heard. Smiling slightly, she was a bit glad she wasn't alone now and with a familiar face, she was now feeling at ease.

"I see and i just got back not that long ago" His eyes narrowed and looked around a bit before speaking quietly, "Are you walking home alone?"

"Yeah, i just left the guild after cleaning. All the cakes should be done tomorrow!" she beamed and frowned slightly, "Natsu helped out a bit today actually and got most of it done until he left me with a mess to clean"

Jellal chuckled and shook his head, "Natsu? That's a bit shocking. I thought you were adamant about not having him help?"

"Well i was at first but then Mira..."

Raising an eyebrow, "Oh" he cleared his throat and spoke quietly, "So did anything happen then?"

"Happen? Such as?"

"Well, did Natsu ever thank you for the kindness you've been showing him lately?"

Lucy laughed almost a bit too loudly and wiped a tear from her eye. Jellal looked a bit appalled and closed his eyes, "I'll take that as a no then. That boy is really something..." he mumbled under his breath.

"I'm sorry, i didn't mean to laugh" Lucy recomposed her self and smiled and waved her hand at him as if she was waving him off, "Why would he thank me? Right now he should be apologizing after leaving me alone with a mess to clean, again. I mean first he destroyed the cake I've made him and then after that mess was settled, he goes around and starts making a mess in the kitchen with the little bit of frosting we had! Okay so maybe i helped contribute to it but he didn't have to leave me!" Lucy groaned as she clutched her head between her hands, "then he says something strange and leaves after Gray shows up. Why is he so weird and he has the nerve to call me weird!"

Lucy ranted a bit more and Jellal just listened, finding it a bit hard to keep up with the girl. He tilted his head slightly when he noticed her face was flushed, from either being frustrated or embarrassed. Either way, it had him curious, "Something strange?" he muttered, snapping Lucy's attention back.

"Yeah" she mumbled and furrowed her brows into a tight knot. She looked down to the ground and her legs crossed. He noticed her face growing a brighter shade of red, "He said i smelled nice after he got a bit too close, but that was when Gray walked in. I couldn't hear the thing he said after that but then he just leaves, can you believe that? What kind of gentleman is he? Because clearly..." Jellal hushed her for a moment and Lucy's eyes widened.

"Is something wrong?" Lucy started looking around as to why Jellal suddenly got a little bit too tense.

"Come, i got something i want to tell you" he turns around and started walking ahead without another word. The celestial mage sighed and whined only slightly that her bath was now delayed again.

* * *

Natsu ran swiftly through the streets towards Lucy's apartment. He was slightly bothered by the fact it was later than he thought it would be, but he had to see Lucy. He honestly felt bad for leaving her there. He finally reached the building and took notice it was dark in the room. Hopping up to the window, her scent was faint, ' _so she hasn't been home yet_ ' he thought as he looked around. He dropped back down to the ground and looked at the night sky, ' _is she still at the guild?_ ' he looked down the street and saw a of couple people in the distance. Natsu started walking down the paved roads and finally picked up their voices, ' _Lucy and...Jellal?_ ' He doesn't know why, but he hid himself in the alleyway nearby and listened.

* * *

Lucy stood by the bridge and stared into the dark waters that reflected the stars in the sky. Smiling to herself, she waited for Jellal to speak about whatever was on his mind.

"So Erza isn't back yet?"

"Nope, tomorrow, you know how she is" she glanced at the blue-haired man from the corner of her eyes. She noticed him picking something out of his pocket.

"Well, i guess that means i have time to prepare"

Lucy walked a few feet over to him and looked at the small box in his hands, "Jellal, are you...?"

He flips open the box and Lucy's jaw dropped, "I've thought about asking her for awhile, but when i saw her last week, I knew she was the one" his voice trailed quietly with a faint smile lingering behind. His eyes twinkled as he eyed the ring in the box. He handed her the box so Lucy can get a better look, "You think she'll like it?" he chuckled slightly realizing how many places he went through to find the perfect ring. The price didn't matter, he just had to find the one ring perfect enough for the scarlet woman.

"Jellal, this is..." She held the box closer to her face, eyeing the dark ruby and bright sapphire gems that trimmed the single diamond in the center of the gold ring, "This is beautiful, I'm sure she'll love it" Lucy started laughing to herself lightly, remembering Erza mentioning how much she always wanted to be married. Always finding excuses to put on a wedding dress, "Did you figure out how you're going to propose?" handing him the box back. He nodded and looked into the dark waters beside him, "Tomorrow when she gets back, after the party i was going to take her out for a while"

Lucy squealed as she clasped her hands together, "Oh! how romantic!" her mind started playing over the novels she read with romantic endings. How she always wanted a prince of her own. Thinking about it, her face fell slightly and chuckled under her breath, "I don't think I'll ever get married"

Jellal tucked the box away and placed a hand onto her shoulder, "You shouldn't worry about that, It's just a matter of time before someone swoops in for you" While he was tucking the box away, he felt someone nearby. He glanced ahead and looked into the windows across the waters, seeing someone in the dark alleyway. Smirking to himself slightly, the all too familiar magic power belonged to one person only, he was never great at masking his presence.

Jellal leaned in towards Lucy and mumbled something.

* * *

Natsu shook his head, wondering what the big deal was about getting married. As long as you're with the person you care about, why does it matter having to announce it to everyone and make such unnecessary expenses for just one day.

His eyes lingered over to the blonde, wondering why she had such a sad look on her, ' _She wants a wedding too?_ ' he tilted his head in confusion and froze when he noticed Jellal looking at him. Natsu didn't move a muscle and watched the blue-haired mage smirking towards him. The dragon slayer's eyes narrowed when he watched the man tilt his head in front of Lucy and whispered in her ear. Natsu was able to hear the whole thing, thanks to his strong sense of hearing.

"You already know who _your_ prince charming is, don't you Lucy?" he whispered. Lucy's face flushed a deep red and closed her eyes.

"I don't know what you're talking about" she mumbled under her breath. She quickly folded her arms and started walking around him. Jellal smiled as his gaze softened, watching the retreating girl.

Natsu rubbed the side of his head, wondering what that was all about. He blinked only for a moment and saw Jellal gone. His gaze narrowed and walked out of the alleyway.

"Looking for someone Natsu?"

The dragonslayer jumped slightly and growled under his breath, not liking being sneaked on, "Could've made a noise you know" he normally would sense when someone was getting close but, he was lost in his thoughts about his blonde celestial mage.

"I'll assume you've heard everything" The dragonslayer turned to look at him.

"Yeah, and you got a death wish for wanting to spend the rest of your life with that she-demon" shivering in horrors about how scary she can be if anything went amiss.

Jellal laughed lightly, "One of her many charms, but Natsu..."

The pink-haired boy raised an eyebrow, slowly losing his patience because he wanted to rush over to Lucy. He already was late in apologizing and was slightly afraid of what she'll do once she sees him. Last time he annoyed her, well, he shook his head not wanting to think about it.

"You have your own girl to worry about right now, don't you? We all knows what happens when shes mad. Honestly, she can be just as terrifying and can certainly be almost on par with Erza" He smiled as he watched the dragon slayers eyes widen and cheeks tinting a slight pink. He raised a hand to his messy pink-locks.

"I guess you're right about that one" and his eyes narrowed, "I have to go see her anyway and apologize about earlier" without another word, he ran off down the street after Lucy.

The blue-haired male walked slowly to the center of the street and watched the retreating figure, "You really let that slide over your head didn't you, Natsu?" he shook his head and turned around, heading to his place in preparation for tomorrow.

* * *

Lucy was just walking in her door when she heard shuffling across the room. Her eyes snapped to the window and saw Natsu crawling in. She sighed and smiled warily, curious as to why he's here in the middle of the night.

"You really need to learn to use the door Natsu" his eyes snapped up to hers and showed her a toothy grin.

"Heya Luce!" he waved over and fixed his scarf as he stood up. The celestial mage put down her bag down and sat on the couch, legs folded when she took in a deep breath.

"So, you have an exceptionally good reason as to why you left me with that giant mess to clean by myself?" Her eyes narrowed and her smile turned into a frown. The dragonslayer grimaced and sat onto her bed, arms folded when he grumbled.

"That's kind of why i came here" he looked to her with his head tilting to the side. The most guilty expression covered his face as his eyelids lowered, his dark eyes locking onto hers, "I'm sorry"

Lucy blinked a few times and let out a quiet sigh, "That's an apology, not a reason" Natsu moved off the bed and sat beside her.

"I wanted to tell you something before but when i saw that ice princess walk in, i just got irritated. Last thing he needed was another reason to make fun of me" grumbling under his breath with irritation. Natsu's face pinched and Lucy grimaced.

 _'That is such a lame excuse'_ she thought before thinking a little more on something, "...something to tell me?" she thought aloud. The dark green eyes were suddenly looking at her and the room went quiet. Lucy closed her mouth slightly, wondering what Natsu could be thinking right about now. What bothered her even more was the fact she was still entirely covered in frosting and is dying to take a long hot bath. It didn't really click until the moment she felt Natsu's breath tickling her. Her eyes widened when she saw him leaning over her.

"Natsu, What're you doing? I have to take a bath" she tried to push him away gently only to suddenly hear a soft growl in response. He had his arms around her and he started mumbling something in her ear. She couldn't quite make out the words exactly, his voice was too low and started to make her panic but, she believed she heard her name.

"Lucy, why were you sad earlier?" he mumbled a bit louder, "...When you were talking to Jellal"

Her heart picked up only slightly and moved out from under him. He looked at her carefully as Lucy sat on the other end of the couch away from him.

"It's no big deal, really. You didn't need to be so close to ask me that"

His gaze softened but it still held some mischief to it, "Luce..?"

She huffed slightly and stood up then headed to the bathroom with her pink towel, "Let me take a bath first" closing the door behind her.

Natsu sighed heavily and leaned further back onto her couch. Eyes closed when he started to feel annoyed again. That strange warm feeling filled in the pit of his gut when he smelled the sweet scent off her again. He couldn't help but pull himself closer to it, so he tried to distract his thoughts with that question but she still continued to dodge it.

...

Lucy sat in the tub, finally feeling relaxed after being in the frosted coated clothing for far too long. She closed her eyes when suddenly picturing Natsu's dark gaze looking at her. She felt a chill go down her spine, ' _Too close...'_ she started to think on the question she was asked and frowned, ' _It's not like he can do anything about it'_ sinking further into the tub, ' _It's not like hes the type to do those things'_ a sad feeling washed through her making her stomach flip a few times, _'Erza is getting married, Levy is still on her honeymoon and I'm left here alone...'_ a small silent tear went down her cheek as she thought more on it, _'i should be happy for them but why do i suddenly feel so jealous?_ ' She was the maid of honor for Levy's wedding, she was ecstatic and excited for her female best friend. However what bothered her was when Natsu was asked if he'll ever settle down and get married one day. His immediate response was, "what is the point?"

Lucy squeezed her eyes shut, remembering why she shut out her feelings. She really was upset when she heard that and walked quietly out of the wedding receptions dinner the second it was over. Forcing a smile up to hide the sadness she felt throughout that night. She loved Natsu, she really did. She knew that and refused to accept it after she heard his words. The more she forced herself in denial, then maybe she'll believe it. So when everyone kept asking about her and Natsu, she feigned ignorance and moved along.

Lucy was slow, but she wasn't stupid. She knew what everyone was nagging on her about but what was the point? Natsu isn't the type of boy for dating and after hearing his opinion about weddings, it crushed her. Lucy sniffled and wiped the offending tears away. She couldn't push the feelings away after all. So hearing about Jellal and Erza really hit her hard. Everyone is enjoying their happy ending except her, how she wanted to shove the feelings she had for the dragonslayer away but he always managed to do something to pull her back.

There was a sudden knock on the door, making the girl snap out of her thoughts, "You alright Lucy?"

She took in a deep breath as she continued to wipe the tears from her eyes, "Y-yeah, I'll be out soon" she spoke quickly. Her voice nearly cracked when crushing the sobs away, ' _Curse his hearing_ ' she thought irritably.

"You sure?" he called out again.

"Yeah, now go away!" she said louder, narrowing her eyes to the door. It was quiet again and Lucy sighed heavily, "Just what am i going to do?"

' _You already know who your prince charming is, don't you Lucy?_ ' Jellal's voice echoed in the back of her mind.

The celestial mage huffed and smacked her hand into the water, splashing it across and onto the floor, "Damn you Jellal!" she yelled. Her eyes popped when she forgot in that one moment she had company. Another knock went at her door, harder this time.

"Lucy?! What is going on?"

She squeaked and pulled herself out of the tub. Throwing a towel around herself, she pulled the plug on the tub and ripped open the door after.

"Nothing! now get out and let me have some peace!" she fumed as she walked past the pink-haired boy.

Natsu was at a loss for Lucy. One minute it was quiet and the next she was talking to herself and crying in the tub. He was only concerned and she already was trying to shove him away. He didn't want that, he wanted her to talk and speak her mind, trying to guess what a girl thinks isn't one of his specialties, heaven knows he has tried and failed miserably.

"Lucy" he started pouting as he rushed behind her to her dresser, "What happened?"

Lucy pulled her drawer open, still feeling irritated about everything, "Its nothing, go home and get some sleep Natsu"

Suddenly she was caged between his arms and the dresser. She swallowed thickly, unable to move, eyes staring at the hands that closed her drawer and her back felt the heat coming off of him in waves, especially since she just got out of the bath.

"Tell me what is bothering you so much Lucy?" He spoke in a low tone. Natsu was really worried for her, but didn't take in any consideration that she was still in only just a towel at the moment.

"Natsu, let me get dressed" she tried to move away from him and ducked under his arms to suddenly be pulled into him. She frowned deeply and felt her heart racing from that point on. His arms completely wrapped around her and she couldn't move.

"Why do you have to be like this, Why can't you just tell me what's troubling you? Maybe i can help..." Lucy started laughing quietly as she shook her head. Natsu was a bit taken back by her odd response.

"Help me? Really?" she turns around and glowers at him, "So you want to know what upsets me so much?" He nodded but didn't let go of her, he needed Lucy to speak her mind so he can understand her better.

"Alright, What's your opinion about dating and weddings?"

He suddenly looked perplexed and dropped his arms on her, "What?"

She folded her arms and stepped closer to him, eyes glaring into his, "I'm just curious"

Natsu shook his head, "Why does it matter what i think? I'm asking you..." Lucy put a hand onto his cheek and his eyes widened.

"Just tell me"

He sighs and mumbles, "Why bother dating someone when you know you're going to be with them all the time?"

Lucy bit her lip, "Dating is to see whether or not they're worth your time"

"But when you're sure about someone, there is no reason to"

She shook her head, "and weddings?"

"An overly hyped gathering" he narrows his eyes to her, "I still don't see where this is going Lucy..." he stopped talking when he saw her lips trembling. Natsu stretched his arm slowly out to her when she moved his hand back.

"Just forget it, it just proves my point" turning around quickly, she grabs her clothes and heads back into the bathroom.

...

She slid on the back of the door, crying to herself slightly, "There really is no hope for him" she mumbled under her sobs. Holding a hand over her face, "I shouldn't be getting so offended about this, i shouldn't but why, why does it have to be him?"

Knocks on the door were made, making the girl jump, "Lucy open the door"

"Natsu can't you just go home already?!"

"Open up please"

She clenched her jaw and stood up. Lucy ripped the door open, it bounced off the wall slightly and glared up at him. His expression looked confused and pained when she was suddenly pulled into him again.

"Why are you crying Lucy? I asked what is wrong and you still never answered me" he brushed her bare back with his fingers lightly and Lucy felt her chest tightening.

"It doesn't matter what i think, it won't make a difference" she pulls away from him and pulls up her towel more so. Lucy's eyes were swollen with tears as she kept her head down.

He was at a loss for words as he eyed the trembling girl in front of him. All he wanted to do earlier was to make sure she wasn't angry at him, but apparently it went deeper than that and he has no idea why. Why did it matter what he thought of dating and weddings, Why was she so upset about it?

"Lucy..."

She mumbles under her breath, "...because it matters to me" Natsu froze as he heard the words. She lifted her head up slightly, eyes holding tears at the edges, looking like swollen dew drops, "because how i feel and knowing what relationships mean to you.." pulling up her one hand to her face, wiping the escaping tears away, "it'll just be pointless in the end but yet i cant stop thinking about it"

She couldn't believe she was saying these things, one minute she just wanted to be left alone but his persistence kept tearing at her walls. Lucy tried to fight back the tears but it just started to overflow, much like her words. She was scared now, what is he going to say to her. She didn't dare to look up at him, knowing it'll just go over his head again. Her heart squeezed as she thought about it more, how is he going to reject her, what is he going to say? Continuous pessimistic thoughts flooded through, until she heard something she wasn't expecting at all. Shattering her inner thoughts entirely.

Natsu moved over to her and hugged her again, only this time it was more gentle, more of an embrace than anything else. Coiling his fingers together and locking his hold on her. He leaned his head onto hers as he spoke, "Dating is pointless because i already know what you like Lucy. I know what kind of person you are and I know I'll always be here for you, whether you like it or not" Her heart nearly jumped out of her chest, listening to his words.

"I'm not a huge fan of weddings because everything takes so long just to say your theirs forever. Why go through all of that when you already knew all that, though i don't mind the buffet tables..." Lucy chuckled, tears threatening to spill again as she finally heard his thoughts. The thoughts that she thought he was incapable of. Has he really thought all of this through? When?

She felt his arm moving until she felt his warm fingers tilting her chin up to look at him. "Lucy, Is that what you were worried about?" showing her a faint smile. Her face flushed entirely and buried her head into his chest. Lucy never felt more embarrassed until now.

"Natsu...I" she swallowed heavily but he continued for her.

"I really like you Lucy" he mumbled into her hair. He continued to lean on her as the silence started to fill the air. Lucy felt her heart nearly all but jumping out of her entirely, feeling the heat from her face down to her toes. Unable to think clearly. _'h-he actually likes me?_ ' she thought confusedly. She wanted to look at him but he was still entirely locked around her.

Fighting with all her inner demons she finally spoke, "I-I...like you too Natsu" she mumbled into his chest. He moved his head slightly and leaned it onto her forehead.

Natsu's eyes remained closed and smiling more so than ever, "Feeling better now?" He felt her nodding and opened his eyes. The brightest smile was lingering on her face, making his face blush slightly. Without thinking he leaned into her and felt their noses touch.

Lucy's breathing picked up as she felt his breath tickling her, her thoughts running amok, feeling nervous all of a sudden, _'It's just Natsu'_ she thought repeatedly, ' _calm down_ ' she closed her eyes and suddenly felt his lips on hers. Her heart soared to an astronomical level and disconnected from her thoughts.

It was such a nervous, yet gentle kiss she could ever imagine. He pulled away slightly and leaned back onto her head. She felt his fingers brush at her bare back yet again, "L-Let me get dressed now please...Natsu. I promise it'll only be a minute" He laughed lightly and let her go. She immediately ran back into the bathroom and locked the door behind her. Lucy looked into the mirror, her face was flushed into a deep red. Holding both hands to her cheeks, she felt the heat under her skin. She turned the cold water on and splashed her face continuously, ' _I can't believe it, We...We...kissed'_ she thought and suddenly felt like the happiest girl alive.

* * *

 **AN:** _Hey guys! So...SO! what'd you think? XD YESS THEY FINALLY ADMITTED IT! I know, extra long chapter just for you guys! Next week will be the final chapter to this little story and we finally get to see what happens between Jellal's proposal, the cake fiasco and finally the favorite couple of them all! I'll see you all next week and thank you all so much for the continued support, feel free to leave a review, i will love to hear from you guys about your opinions for the story so far._


	7. Chapter 7

_..chapter 7.._

Lucy looked out the window of her apartment, the sky covered by the clouds with a chill breeze passing through. Erza was returning back to Fairy Tail today and today was the celebration of her 500th completed quest. However, an odd thing occurred, she hasn't contacted Mira yet about it being completed, nor informed her of coming back.

Lucy turned around and stared at her quiet, empty apartment. Sliding down onto her bed, she thought back on about last night, unable to process it completely yet. She finally admitted her feelings to Natsu and was entirely stunned that he felt the same way. Her eyes drooped slightly, smiling like a little girl once again. Her fleeting dream of being with someone finally was coming alive. Most especially, her best friend, someone who knew her inside and out. Closing her eyes, she thought back on how he held her all night, just sleeping peacefully. At first she tried arguing about it, but realized there was just no point in shoving him away. What else was there to be ashamed about? Her face tinted pink immensely realizing what could also possibly happen in the near future. Slapping herself slightly, she pulled herself out of bed and got ready for the party.

* * *

People were chattering left and right, a small commotion was held in the guild of Fairy Tail. Mira was running back and forth placing the cakes neatly onto the tables. Lisanna, her sister, helped as well. Gray and Juvia were already out to the train station to look for the Scarlet mage and Jellal was still preparing himself at home. The guild master eyed his guild from above, sipping from his worn-out mug and smiling at the chaotic sight. Erza informed him only about her return, wanting to give her friends a surprise. Mira came to him a few times because she was worried, but he shrugged her off and insisted that Erza will be fine. Dangling his short legs off the balcony, he watched as the blonde celestial mage walked in.

...

"Wow, this place changed so much in such a short time" Lucy spoke quietly to herself. A sudden small voice mumbled from behind.

"We're doing our absolute best for Miss Scarlet" The small blue-haired dragonslayer spoke. The celestial mage smiled as she eyed the cakes covering almost all the tables.

"I'm sure even before she does a speech, she'll be taking those cakes home"

"Its too much for one p-person..." Wendy paled from the ridiculous idea, "Isn't it?"

Lucy laughed and shook her head in disbelief, "For us, yeah, but for Erza, I'm not too sure"

A hand touches Lucy's shoulder, making the girl jump from the sudden, unnoticed presence. She whips her head around, wide-eyed as she saw her pink-haired dragonslayer. He waves at her smiling before swinging an arm over her shoulder.

"Yo!" he widely grins at her and looks at the festive guild hall, "When's it time to dig in?" looking around curiously.

Wendy's eye caught his fingers twirling the loose ends of Lucy's hair and it seems she doesn't even care or notice.

The celestial mage frowns, "After Erza gets her fill, this is her party, not yours Natsu" He turns to her, slightly pouting.

"I never even got a chance to eat anything yet!" groaning as he moved over to sit at an empty table. Wendy ran over to finish helping the Strauss sisters but took one last look at the two that were now sitting together. However, Lucy still sat across from him, shaking her head slightly, she turned back around to see Happy with Charle yet again.

"Hello there, Happy" the dragonslayer spoke. Charle looked to Wendy then back to Happy.

"Hi Wendy!" the cat spoke with fish already stuffed into his mouth. Tail wagging happily being able to sit by his favorite cat. Wendy looked to Charle for only a moment and the white cat nodded.

"I'll be back in a moment Happy" Charle moved away quickly, leaving the dragonslayer alone with the devilish blue cat.

Normally, the girl doesn't pry, but shes been awfully curious lately, especially since no one made the effort to ask if those two were ever official. She knew Gray and Juvia were an item and Levy finally married Gajeel. She was only slightly jealous, only because she had to wait a few more years before she can even consider dating. The thought of it now made her face blush slightly, which caught Happy's attention.

"What's wrong Wendy?" the cat looked up at her curiously with his big round eyes.

"I-I'm just wondering, are those two..." eyeing the table near the doors. Happy stretched his neck to see where she was looking, "are those two together finally?"

Happy noticed Lucy looking relaxed and smiling as she talked to the pink-headed dragonslayer. He was leaning back slightly, arms folded across his chest but he was smiling as well. That's not what has his attention though, underneath the table, despite the barrels in between tables, he caught them brushing their legs against another briefly. The cat grinned and looked back to Wendy.

"Why wouldn't they be?" stuffing the last bit of fish in his mouth, "Tell Charle I'll be right back!" the cat flew off towards his best friend. Wendy sat by the bar stool briefly when Charle popped up beside her.

"Did you get the answer you're looking for?"

The small dragonslayer watched as Happy sat on the table in front of Natsu, "I-I think I'm going to find out now from the looks of things"

...

"So after the party is over, we're going to Crocus?" Lucy asked as she sipped her drink.

"Yeah, the mission was posted yesterday and since you're finally done with the cooking, figured we can head out after the party" he caught Happy flying in between them and plopped onto the table. A sudden noise sounded from the table being bumped and Happy looked around curiously. He knew though, he just wanted to see their reactions, he was absolutely not letting this one slide. Lucy cleared her throat as she batted her eyelashes quickly before averting her gaze. Natsu sighed and looked down at the blue cat.

"What's up Happy?"

"So is Lucy coming on the mission?" even though she was right behind him, he was going to set up a small little plan of his own.

"Yep!" grinning ear to ear.

Happy turned around to see a somewhat flushed expression lingering on her face, "Y-yeah, I'm going. We're leaving after the party Happy" grimacing. Happy stood up and looked up at her curiously, tail wagging excitedly. Natsu raised an eyebrow as he watched. Knowing what that tail wag meant, it wasn't going to be good, for either of them.

"Lucy, what're you embarrassed about? It's just a mission! You and Natsu have to go undercover and pose as a couple in Crocus, easy right? Once we get the thief it'll be all over" The cat sat down in front of her and Lucy's face changed to a brighter shade of red.

Natsu put his head down on the table, eyeing her warily, wondering if the cat is making her uncomfortable. Lucy swallowed heavily and a smile escaped that looked too much of a nervous grimace instead.

"Exactly, easy work and pays a lot, nothing to worry about especially since my rent is due next week" Happy turned his head around slightly back, to see the sheepish look on Natsu's face.

"So you guys are practicing to be a couple before the mission starts?" stifling back a laugh, placing both paws over his mouth, "I didn't mean to interrupt you guys, i had to be sure Lucy would be the one coming"

Lucy nearly jumped out of her seat and glowered down at Happy, "What do you mean by practicing? We aren't-"

"But i saw you guys playing footsie's!" Happy flew up in the air, speaking purposely a bit too loudly.

The guild fell silent and all heads turned to them. Lucy's face went into a dark crimson while Natsu just buried his face into his arms that was over the table.

"H-Happy..." the embarrassed girl mumbled under her breath, feeling the holes burn into her back. She knew, the moment she turns around, she'll see the laughs and snickers on everyone's faces. How long Levy tried to get Lucy to go on a date but failed because she was going to hold out for Natsu until she lost the will to wait.

"Well if you're not practicing, are you guys finally together then?" still snickering under his paws. Lucy couldn't even say anything, because it was true, they were together but, to admit it in front of everyone. She turned around slightly, and was slightly shocked to see everyone looking at her curiously. They've been asking about her and Natsu for awhile but she always denied it. Before she could speak though, Happy looked down to see Natsu already behind her and hugged her from behind. Leaning his head onto her shoulder, he looked at everyone seriously, speaking in a somewhat low tone.

"We're together, what about it, Happy?" Happy squealed and flew in circles around them two.

"About time! Three cheers for the dense couple!"

Suddenly hearing cheers and finally's thrown in between, Lucy turned to look at Happy who flew onto Natsu's head.

"I wanted to keep that bit to ourselves for just a little while" she mumbled, feeling Natsu pull her back to the chair and sat beside her. Their hands interlocked under the table and he gave her a light squeeze.

"Cat's out of the bag now, but that's one less worry for you, isn't it?" he laughed lightly and Happy flew back to Charle.

"I guess so" smiling up to him. Her eyes fell slightly. In honesty, she felt a whole lot better, finally relaxed. Lucy was panicking on whether or not to tell everyone, figuring why would they care but, obviously they did if they kept poking on her about it. They all seemed to be glad they finally were official. She smiled even brighter at the thought. Not caring about who saw anymore, she leaned onto his shoulder and closed her eyes. The heat he gave off was warm yet comfortable. She couldn't help but snuggle into him during the cold night-outs during winter. However now, she didn't have to feel embarrassed, she for once, felt free to do as she pleases. She felt a hand brushing the side of her shoulder and Lucy opened her eyes to see Natsu looking down at her gently.

"Tired?" he spoke and then leaned one elbow onto the table, looking out the one window in front of them.

"No, just happy" tucking her arm under his to snuggle further.

"Not embarrassed anymore?"

"Nope" she said quietly and closed her eyes again, "I don't have a reason to be...u-unless" moving away slightly, "if i'm annoying you any..." looking slightly flustered and turned her head away,

Natsu chuckled slightly and pulled her back closer to him, "Nah, I'm fine Luce. Just needed to make sure" she looked at him smiling. She can see his bright green eyes twinkling from the little bit of sun that shined through the windows. It seems the skies were finally clearing up.

He leaned his head down slightly, touching her forehead with his as he spoke in a lower, quieter tone, "I won't do anything that makes you uncomfortable, got it?" he felt her nodding her head until he lifted her chin up slightly. Her face was only slightly tinted with pink but the look she had, made his heart beat a little faster.. She had the faintest smile lingering and the softest gaze peering up at him. Closing his eyes slowly, he leaned in towards her. Right before he could kiss her, the doors slammed open.

Gray was holding hands with Juvia as they walked in. The guild fell quiet again as they also saw Erza and Jellal walking in together. A few people cheered out suddenly saying congratulations but fell silent when they saw Erza dropping her bags and walked straight to the table in front of her. She sat down and looked at the cake in front of her. The guild master walked up beside them and looks to Gray for some indication but all the ice mage does was point his eyes towards Jellal. Juvia squealed slightly and pulled Gray to another table.

Makarov moved to sit on the bench and Jellal sat next to Erza quietly. Lucy watched the scene, feeling slightly confused. There's hundreds of cakes around the tables, Jellal is present with her and yet...

"Is something wrong Miss Scarlet?" the guild master mumbled to her quietly.

Erza looked at him slightly and shook her head, "I..."

Jellal sighed and handed Makarov a slip of paper. The guild master opened it up and raised an eyebrow, "You..."

"I failed" she mumbled almost inaudibly.

"Mistakes do happen, Erza. People make mistakes, it's a part of life"

"But you guys went through all this trouble...i can't accept this..." Placing both of her hands, onto her face, covering her eyes. Lucy moved away from Natsu and walked towards Erza.

"Erza...what happened?"

The scarlet mage turned to her slightly, "It was suppose to be the grandest night at the theater the other day and yet i..."

Natsu moved over and stood behind Erza, without warning he suddenly slaps her back, flinching the woman to sit upwards. Everyone's face paled and went into complete silence from that sudden bold move.

"Why are you so down about it? So you failed one mission out of how many? It's not the end of the world, instead of feeling down, you get back up and do twice the amount of effort next time" huffing slightly as he folded his arms. Erza looked at him feeling slightly appalled, completely ignoring the fact he slapped her, "The Erza i know wouldn't let something this small get the better of her. Instead she'll give them hell the next time she comes across it" grinning slightly and remembering what happened the last time someone beat her just once. It basically never happened again, even he knew now not to duel her anymore, despite being friends, she was relentless with comebacks.

Erza smiled and felt Lucy patting her shoulder, "He's right you know, as hard as it is to believe"

"...hey" he frowned as he looked down to her.

Lucy smiled up at him and spoke again, "When something gets in your way, you beat it down until there's nothing left of it, right Erza?" the scarlet mage nodded.

"Yeah, you're right. Thanks guys" Jellal cleared his throat and their eyes went to him.

"If you're worried about that 500th mission being valid, how about i give you one, Miss Scarlet?" smiling towards her warmly.

"You have a mission for me, Jellal?" Erza looked to him curiously and he leaned in towards her. He lowered his voice slightly and slipped a box into her hand.

"Yes, i have a mission for you and only you" The scarlet mage looked at the box in her hand and Lucy nearly squealed. Pulling Natsu aside, she watched from her bench as Natsu huffed slightly but slid his arm around her waist again.

Erza opened the box and gasped. Her face nearly matched her hair and became a complete loss for words, "Will you Marry me, Miss Scarlet?"

"I-I..." completely flustered, Jellal couldn't help but smile at her. Knowing how she was probably going to react, he slipped the ring out of the box and held it between his fingers.

"It's a very difficult mission, you'll never know whats going to happen" he tilted his head slightly and his smile turning into a slightly devilish grin. Erza's face went into a deeper crimson, not realizing she had an entire audience. Forgetting that fact, she nodded her head.

"Y-yes..." she spoke barely above a whisper, trying her best to recompose her self, "Yes, i do"

Everyone nearly screamed and congratulated them with an uproar. Makarov smiled at them warmly as the two suddenly went into a tight embrace. Drinks were being passed around and the party finally started.

"I can't believe they're getting married, I'm so happy for them!" Lucy squealed, swinging her legs slightly. Natsu eyed the two across carefully and slightly huffed.

"What's there to be so worked up about, though?"

"Its a union between two people Natsu! People get married because they want to celebrate being together, to tell the world to back off and that they belong to each other" She started huffing to herself slightly until Natsu pulled her closer to him. Lucy didn't bother looking up, she kept her eyes on the engaged couple, feeling slightly upset that she'd probably never have a wedding of her own.

"I'm sorry..." he whispered over to her.

"It's fine, everyone is different i suppose"

"I mean, why get excited over them? Yeah, they're our guild mates and friends but, You'll need all that excitement for when it's your turn"

Lucy froze and peeled her eyes away to look at him, "What...?" her eyes grew wide to see Natsu smirking down to her.

"Maybe one day, Luce and it'll be better than any wedding you've ever seen before"

Lucy choked back a sob and threw both her arms around his neck, "I can't believe I'm hearing that from you, You're really something..."

Natsu buried his face into her hair and laughed, "Only for you Lucy" she sniffled, eyes slightly puffy. He frowns and brushes his thumb under her eyes.

"What's wrong?" she whispered. He didn't say anything and leaned in closer to her, "Natsu..?"

"You have something there..." before Lucy can answer, he pressed his lips onto hers lightly and she was immediately silenced.

It didn't take long for the crowd to notice though, keeping up the noise in the background.

...

"So they've finally admitted it while i wasn't looking?" Erza folded her arms before turning away to look at her Fiance.

"It was quite the troubling deed to complete" he mumbled quietly.

"What'd you do this time?" sitting down at the table full of strawberry cakes.

"Nothing, much. Something i know I'll never do again" sitting beside her.

"Quite the match maker aren't you?" she smiled to him gently.

He brushed her hair back slightly behind her shoulder, "I wouldn't say that"

"It's what you did, didn't you? Don't lie to me.." pointing a fork at him accusingly.

"Well, i merely dropped a few hints and spoke to both of them, but they did all the work themselves. It's what makes a relationship whole, you go through your feelings, sort them out and you do all of it together, do you not?" he smiled towards her, then leans in closer to her, "You gave me quite the run around for awhile yourself.

"As if you haven't, I'm still curious as to why you said you had a fiance when you clearly haven't..." eyeing him menacingly.

"You're right, I'm sorry, i just had you in mind at the time" Raising his hands up in defeat.

"w-what...you thought about it since..."

He nodded and watched as her face turned into a bright crimson again, "I've always loved you, Erza" he said sincerely.

Erza smiled and sobbed quietly, "M-me too..." Jellal hugged her tightly while Makarov moved onto the stage across the guild hall.

"Ahem!" he announced through the mic. The guild fell quiet and turned all their attention towards him, "As you all may know, today is a remarkable day to celebrate. Not because of Erza's amazing efforts and contribution for this guild, but a union that follows it. Congratulations to the new soon to be, married couple, Erza and Jellal" bowing to them slightly as he clapped, "...further more, I'd like to wish you all an amazing night, have fun!" Everyone cheered loudly as he moved off the stage. Mira looked down to him curiously.

"Have you seen Natsu and Lucy? I wanted to thank her for helping me with the baking..." pouting slightly. Makarov laughed lightly.

"They left before i made the announcement. I saw them leaving as i walked up on the stage" moving over towards the bar counter.

"Why so early, the party only just started" huffing slightly and moved towards the tray full of drinks.

"I wouldn't worry about them so much Mira. They have a mission to do tomorrow so I'm sure they got to prepare for an early start"

"But that mission isn't until the next day, they don't need to leave until tomorrow morning"

Happy flew over to the counter and smiled towards the white-haired girl, "Two drinks please! One with fish and other with berries for Wendy!"

Makarov looked at the flying cat, "Not with Natsu, Happy?"

Happy shook his head, "No, Natsu told me to have fun, so I am!"

Mira looked at the cat accusingly, "And he took Lucy with him?"

The blue cat snickered, "Okay okay, so he told me not to tell anyone"

Mira grabbed the cat by the tail, "Spill it"

"AYE! Natsu wanted to be alone with Lucy before the mission tomorrow!" she dropped the cat and squealed.

"Oh my goodness, such young love!" dancing on her heels. Makarov laughed and Happy paled.

"You didn't hear nothing from me!" and he flew off.

"I have my own way of finding out things" Mira chimed and hummed.

"Well, don't get yourself in too much trouble Mira" hopping off the counter to head back into his office with a newly filled mug. She laughed and returned to her work.

* * *

Lucy laughed as she continued to be chased down by Natsu. They ran through the park as the sun was beginning to set.

"Come on Luce! Just once!"

"No way!" she laughed, hiding behind the tree. She knew it was pointless to continue running from him, with all the energy he has, shell burn out way before him. Hiding was also pointless due to the fact he can still find her, eyes closed.

"Just once!"

"No!" she stayed put and noticed they were at the far end of the park. It was quiet and she stared at the setting sun in the distance. The sky already had its stars peeking through and the colors around them made it all the more beautiful. Forgetting herself, she jumped when she saw Natsu standing in front of her. Gulping slightly, he backed her up into the tree entirely, caging her between his arms.

"Can't run now Lucy"

"Doesn't mean I'll do it"

He leaned forward towards her neck and whispered, "please?"

She felt her face warming and her breathing picked up, "But why?..."

"We'll if we're going to do this mission, we have to do it right"

"F-Fine..." she stammered.

Grinning widely, "Alright, Let me hear it"

"B-But..." His eyes narrowed and moved closer to her face. His warm breath tickled her slightly and she shuddered, sighing, "M-my name is..."

"What're you so nervous about?" he mumbled, "It'll be true one day though right?"

Her eyes widened and huffed slightly, "My name is Lucy Dragneel"

"See now was that so hard?" he laughed.

"And you say I'm weird..."

"No one can be weirder than you Luce, Especially since you're stumbling over a simple sentence"

She folded her arms tightly and looked away, "I still don't see why we have to pose as a couple when we are one" she mumbled.

"But they don't know that" he leaned his head onto her and she finally relaxed.

"Lets go home" she tried to move away, "we have to get up early in the morning" He didn't move away and instead, he wrapped his arms around her. Lucy stopped moving and moved her arm around his.

"I really like you Lucy" he whispered quietly. Not feeling embarrassed any more, she smiled and nuzzled her head into him.

"I like you too, Natsu"

The sun shined on them, casting a shadow over the grass.

The wind blew by them gently making the tree leaves move slightly over the shadow.

Creating a small heart on the ground, they stayed there for awhile, in each others arms, living in that moment, of a world of just them and no one else.

* * *

 **AN:** _Isn't that the cutest?_ _maybe? no? idk XD i liked it, and you all probably thought the wrong thing with Happy and Mira! XD maybe? anyway, i hope you all enjoyed the story, i tried a little bit and more stories will come in the future. Thank you all so much for the support and sticking with it until the end :3_

 ** _Sincerely,_** _RosarioSecrets_


End file.
